Momnesia - Alternate Ending
by hyperpsychomaniac
Summary: Alternate ending to the episode 'Momnesia'. What if Guy hadn't stopped his mother from revealing SheZow's identity to the entire town?
1. Chapter 1

I'm debating whether to write an alternate ending to the episode 'Momnesia'. I really enjoyed this episode because - I don't know about anyone else - but I felt like it had one of the best set ups for a bunch of bad stuff going down. They built the tension of Droosha going to tell everyone about Guy really well. And you could tell if she actually did that the repercussions would be really bad (and I'm not just talking about the whole family being relocated to the moon). The whole town would hate you, they'd want you to pay for SheZow's damages. Not to mention it'd mess up a whole pile of stuff within the family.

I also liked that they actually wrote a decent story with the storyline 'oops we forgot your birthday but we didn't really we threw you a surprise party after you got all depressed and had a really horrible day'. This is done a lot, and usually it annoys me. Except that in SheZow they actually forgot his birthday, which is a lot more believable. Also, this would have meant finding out that your son was SheZow on that same day that much more sucky.

(And if you can't remember, this is the episode where Droosha finds out Guy is SheZow, and ends up Moming all over the place and convincing Guy that he should reveal his identity to the entire town. At a big party. On the day that was supposed to be his father's birthday, but the whole family forgot. They end up wiping Mom's memory so she doesn't end up revealing SheZow's identity in the nick of time.)

So, this isn't meant to be me going on about how much I liked that episode. I will start a fic below shortly. But I've decided to start writing what would actually happen if Guy hadn't stopped his mother from revealing his identity. Again, I have no idea where this is going. But I will see what sort of response I get and go from there.

Teaser below, please let me know what you think and if you want to see more!

* * *

Powering down the city streets in his cruiser, hard rock blaring on the radio, Boxter didn't expect a pleasant end to his birthday. I mean, his whole family had forgotten it! What were they going to do, dash out and buy presents? That wasn't what he wanted from them anyway. The best he could hope for on short notice was an apology.

But he hadn't expected what greeted him when he arrived. "Oh come on," Boxter groaned, shoulders slumping. As he pulled into his street he found cars parked everywhere. All up and down the street, on the curb, on his lawn. He was only just able to squeeze the police cruiser up onto a spare space on his own driveway. Some idiot must be holding a party. Yippee for them.

Steeling himself, reminding himself that he wasn't going to back down - he was going to talk about his feelings, no matter how hard that was - Boxter slipped out of the car and made his way through the house. His family was nowhere inside, so he went through and pushed open the sliding door to the back yard.

Practically the whole town was there. Boxter stalled. Had they pulled that silly 'oops we completely forgot your birthday' thing and then gone and thrown him a surprise party at the end of it all? That didn't make the rest of his day any less depressing. But if they hadn't forgotten, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe he could forgive them.

Droosha was on a podium set up at the end of the yard. Boxter's heart quickened and he almost believed they'd done this for him. Almost. But something wasn't quite right. Droosha was already in the middle of making some announcement. Unless she had impeccable timing, wouldn't she wait for him? He tried to make eye contact but she was caught up in her words. Completely oblivious to him. Boxter's heart sank. And then what she was saying actually registered.

"I'm proud to announce that I, Droosha Hamdon, know the secret identity of SheZow."

Boxter stiffened and felt his hands tense into fists. "About bloody time." At least something would go his way tonight. How the hell Droosha had found out he didn't know but it would be good to finally find out who the little bee was. Oh yeah, even if his wife had forgotten his birthday, giving him SheZow's identity - the ability to actually make the superheroine take responsibility for her mess - that would go miles towards making up for it.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Droosha continued, "SheZow the glamazon superheroine is none other than my son, Guy Hamdon!" And with that she pushed Guy forward. He was dressed to the nines, but he didn't look comfortable. He hesitated, rubbing at his arm and digging in his heels.

"Huh?" For a moment all Boxter could do was stare at her. Stare at his son. Not that either of them noticed him standing there across the yard. Guy was SheZow? No.

"Go on, sweetie…"

Boxter swallowed. "No Guy, don't…"

Guy gave Droosha one last look and she smiled at him. That was enough to boost his confidence. He stepped forward, chest puffed out, flung out his fist and shouted: "You go girl!" And with a swirl of pink transformed into SheZow.

Boxter drew in a sharp breath. He felt like he'd been punched in the guts.

And then chaos erupted.


	2. Chapter 2

Guy wasn't exactly expecting to be applauded. But the announcement was followed by a stretch of silence. And then chaos erupted.

"SheZow's your son?" someone snorted. "But he's a boy!"

"He still owes me twenty bucks!"

"He owes the city a damn sight more than that." This from Mayor Stanley.

Anything else anyone said was drowned out in the buzz of a dozen voices.

Guy took a step back. "Um, Mom? I don't think this went like we planned…"

Droosha put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be okay, sweetie. I think they're all just a bit shocked."

"More than a bit," Kelly growled. Guy shot her a look. In response she folded her arms and glared at him. What was her problem? It wasn't like they were yelling at her!

"Hey!" A booming voice cut through the noise. His father was back and making his way across the lawn. He held tensed fists by his side and he didn't look pleased. Not one bit.

"Oh good," Guy said, "Dad'll sort them out."

Kelly was still glaring at him. "Yeah. Right before he sorts out you."

Guy gulped and tugged at his skirt.

"Alright, party's over!" Boxter barked. "Off my lawn. All of you! Or I'll arrest you all!"

"What, by yourself…" one man started. But he trailed off as Boxter fixed him with a glare.

Well, it didn't look like anyone here would be celebrating. Guy jumped down off the podium. "No. You heard him; party's over."

His father fixed him with an ice cold glare. Guy faltered. But he only had to endure it for a brief moment. His father looked away all too quickly.

"Yeah, looks like you might have some things to discuss," said Mayor Stanley, glancing briefly at Boxter. "Just a heads up though - you'll be hearing from Megadale's solicitors."

Everyone left in short order. Guy couldn't take his eyes off his father. He was mad, definitely. And not just at the people who had invaded his lawn.

"Boxter," Droosha stepped down from the podium and took her husband's arm. "Sweetheart, I'm sorry, I know your upset. It was your birthday and we all just…"

Boxter tugged his arm back. "You think I'm worried about that now?" He wouldn't look at her. Instead he looked at Guy. Looked him up and down then fixed his gaze on some random piece of lawn. "No one's here to show off to. You can take that off."

"No one's here who should have a problem with it," Droosha growled.

"Yeah Dad; I'm SheZow. You're going to have to get used to it." Guy put his hands on his hips.

"I want to talk to my family," Boxter snapped. "Not SheZow!"

Kelly bumped Guy's arm. "A little tact wouldn't go astray right now," she hissed at him.

Guy chewed his lip. Well, if it'd stop his father looking at him like that. "Okay fine. She-yeah," he said, half-heartedly. The lack of enthusiasm didn't seem to trouble the transformation. In seconds Guy was standing in his suit. "Better?"

At least Boxter was able to make eye contact now. "What happened?" he said quietly. "I was away all day, I… and I come home to… this?!"

"Boxter, I'm sorry we forgot your birthday. We'll make it up to you, I promise. But you're not seeing what's right in front of your eyes. Your son is SheZow! He's been saving the town for months. He's a star, sweetie."

"How is that supposed to make me feel better?" Boxter growled. "I mean, how is he even SheZow? She's supposed to be a woman!"

"Dad, Aunt Agnes was SheZow," said Kelly. "She passed on her powers to Guy. He's got this ring that makes him SheZow but he can't take it off. He's stuck with it. I'm sorry you found out like this." She threw a glare at Droosha. "Things kind of got out of hand."

"Oh right, so he doesn't have a choice about being SheZow, huh? Well, does he have a choice to trash Megadale and leave it to me to clean up…"

Why was everyone talking about him like he wasn't there. "I'm right here, you know. Dad, look at me!"

Instead, Boxter turned to Droosha. "And what possessed you to tell the whole bloody town? You didn't even talk to me first."

Droosha folded her arms. "Oh, I'm sorry. Am I suppose to ask your permission?"

"No! But he's my son too. And yeah, I should get some say in this. Instead I find out the same time as half of Megadale?! Do you have any idea how that makes me feel?"

"How do you think I feel, Dad?" Guy snapped, and this time Boxter looked at him. "You should be happy for me; I'm SheZow! It's awesome."

Boxter's hands tensed into fists at his sides. "You told the whole town. It's not going to be 'awesome', Guy. Don't you get that?"

"Honey, it'll be fine. We'll get through this together. Sure, it wasn't exactly the response we expected. But the town will come around."

"Together?" Boxter snorted. "What if they don't? You heard Mayor Stanley. And what about…"

Droosha shrugged. "Worst comes to worst, we can move to the moon."

Boxter stared at her. "This is not the time for sarcasm."

"She's not being sarcastic, Dad. There's this superhero relocation thing…" Kelly let out a growl and stomped her foot. "You know what, forget it. I told you this was a bad idea! Things are going to go south and we're going to have to move to the moon…"

Boxter stared at Droosha. "Wait, this actually means we have to move to the moon? You knew about that?"

"Of course I did. You think I'd do this without knowing there was someplace safe for the kids to…"

Boxter swallowed hard. "Yeah, well thanks for taking care of things so well, honey. I just… I can't deal with this right now…" He turned in one quick motion and headed back to the house.

"Aw, Dad," said Kelly. But she didn't follow him.

Guy folded his arms. It wasn't his fault his father was upset. He just didn't like SheZow - period. How was that his problem? The growl of an engine started from the front of the house. The police cruiser. He was leaving? A sudden sinking feeling took hold of Guy's gut.

"Honey, it's okay," Droosha put a hand on his shoulder. "He's not mad at you. He's just upset about his birthday."

"Mom, come on! That's not the reason - it just made it worse!"

"Kelly…" Droosha began, a note of warning in her voice.

"Forget it, I'm going to bed." Kelly stomped inside.

"Guy, it's okay," Droosha tried again. "Just give him some time."

Guy could hear the car spluttered off up the street. Well, if his father wanted to pout, fine. "He'll get over it," he said as firmly as he could, folding his arms. "And people say I'm a drama queen."

Guy went up stairs and to bed. But he couldn't sleep. It was going to be alright, wasn't it? He'd made the right decision? Well, Mom had kind of pushed him into it. But he would've done it anyway. Leap in, to hell with the consequences. That always worked, right? And Dad would get over it. Mom was right; he just needed a bit of time. He couldn't completely hate his son for being SheZow. And he wouldn't ditch him because of it. Everything would be okay. Still, he couldn't fall asleep. It was only an hour or so later, when he heard the sound of his father pulling back into their driveway, that he finally did.


	3. Chapter 3

"Goddess…" Kelly groaned, fiddling with the bit of card clutched in her hands. It was so scrappy and childish. She couldn't draw to save her life. She should just chuck it out. She almost did. She was in the kitchen, alone, waiting for her father to come downstairs. But he was taking forever. Was he overtired, or hiding?

That's when she heard him stomping down the stairs. Boxter paused just before he entered the kitchen, glancing up only to look around furtively. Then he slouched in, gaze fixed on his feet.

"Dad…"

"Your Mom around?"

Kelly winced. "No. She went out. With Guy. I think they were going to do some, you know…"

Boxter sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"You did get up kind of late. They're not trying to be mean, they're just excited."

Boxter still wouldn't quite look at her. He shrugged and collected his keys off the kitchen counter. Must've dumped them there when he'd come home late last night.

"Dad, wait…"

"I'm going to go return the car to Wackerman. He's supposed to have it for the weekend, not me. One of us is going to get in trouble."

"Dad," Kelly got up with huff and stood in her father's path.

"Kelly, please, I'm not in the mood."

"Here." She shoved the card into her father's hands. It wasn't even proper art card. She'd had to raid her school supplies. It was the backing off one of her books, and it had been a rather anxious decision to rip it off, but she figured her Dad needed it more then her school books. Until she'd started drawing on it. Because she couldn't draw cars. Or anything. How was that supposed to make up for what they'd done to him? "I'm sorry, I know it sucks. I would've bought one it would've been nicer but of course I didn't because none of us remembered. But then it was too late and I just had the stuff in my room…"

Boxter wasn't paying any attention to her rambling apology. He cracked open the card and smiled faintly. "Hey, its my ten bucks."

"Well, seven, I spent the rest. I'm sorry…"

"Thanks, honey." Boxter ruffled a hand through her hair. "You haven't made me a card in years." He closed it and looked at its front, chewing his lip. "Is that supposed to be a cop car?"

Kelly frowned and smoothed back her hair. "Yeah, there's a reason I haven't made you a card in years. I can't draw to save my life."

Boxter scowled and looked away. "Well it's more than anyone else did for me."

It still wasn't enough. Despite that it had perked him up. "I wanted to take you to breakfast too and… explain things better. But I only had seven dollars and… no, Dad, I didn't mean…"

He was fishing in his wallet. "Here," He handed her twenty dollars.

Kelly pushed it back at him. Seriously? She'd already taken money from him yesterday. On his birthday! "I can't…"

"Kelly," Boxter sighed, "I spent all yesterday wondering if you guys even cared. Do you really think I want to go see Wackerman again? I wanted to spend yesterday with my family but it didn't happen. So if you want to take me to breakfast, I don't care if it's a day late… I'd… I'd really like that."

Kelly smiled at him. "Yeah, okay." She took the twenty dollars, folded it and put it in her pocket. "Are you okay?"

At least he smiled at her, if only faintly. "Feed me first, then I'll let you know."

* * *

Something felt different today. And it wasn't just Mom in the passenger seat continuing to excitedly exposit the awesomeness of her son being SheZow. Did those kids they'd driven past look at him funny? Guy fiddled with the rear view mirror as he tried to make sure.

"Come on, sweetie. There's got to be some villain for you to take down."

Not that he didn't like taking down villains, but: "You sure about this, Mom?"

Droosha squeezed his arm. "Guy, no one's going to hate you just for being who you are. I mean, okay, they may have reacted a little badly last night. But that was just shock. If you remind the city how much SheZow actually does for it, I'm sure most people will come around. They'll be singing your praises again in no time."

Guy navigated the Shehicle around a particularly sharp turn, regained stability, and then accelerated. The faster he was going, the less people could stare at him. "Yeah, I suppose." Any why was he worried? Megadale loved SheZow. "Yeah, you're right Mom. It won't be hard to find something sheriffic for me to do." He smirked. "I mean, I am me…"

Droosha smiled at him. "That's the way, sweetheart."

The feeling of elation quickly left him. It wasn't simply Megadale he had to convince. "It's just Dad I'm worried about."

"I suppose we did kind of ruin his day."

"I mean whether he's going to… you know… learn to like me again."

"Guy, your father loves you. He's just upset right now. You know how he feels about SheZow. Well, used to feel. It'll be different once he gets used to it."

"He shouldn't hate SheZow anyway. He just needs to learn to deal with it," Guy growled. But would he? What if his Dad decided he didn't want his son to be SheZow? What would he do then?

"You're right, but it's not his fault we missed his birthday," said Droosha. "That's got to hurt. We should at least get him a present. You know, when we're done finding you a villain."

Sheila popped up on the dash before they could discuss it further. "Sorry to interrupt your domestic issues, but there appears to be a robbery in progress downtown."

Guy was more than happy to concentrate on a robbery. That was far simpler than trying to figure out what his father might or might not be feeling. "A robbery I can deal with. That'll be something Megadale'll be grateful for, right? Who is it?"

"It's SheZap," said Sheila. "So I suggest you get down there fast. She's too easy to mistake for you and I doubt you can use the bad publicity right now. Not that you can't sully your reputation all by yourself."

"Oh, She, come on!" said Droosha, before Guy could even reply. "Guy's just a kid."

"Yes, well I suppose he had some help. Better hurry." And with that Sheila disappeared from the dash.

"What's her problem this morning?" Droosha huffed.

"Her superheroine did just reveal his identity…" Guy mused. But Sheila could learn to deal with it too.

"So who's SheZap?" Droosha asked as they pulled up at the address Sheila had given them.

"She's my clone."

"Oh, you have your own clone?"

"Not as fun as it sounds, Mom."

A crash sounded from inside the building and one of the walls blew clean out, scattering bricks and mortar across the road. SheZap leapt out of the hole she had created, carrying an armful of jewellery, and cackled.

"Seriously, what's he planning on doing with all that?" Guy baulked.

"I don't know, maybe he's going to wear it? He? So, she's like, exactly your clone?"

"Apart from causing chaos and being a villain? He's my opposite Mom; for the record I don't really like jewellery. I'd much rather kick his butt into the middle of next week."

"I can live with that, you go sweetie!"

"Hey!" Guy leapt out of the car. "What are you doing, SheZap? Put that stuff back now, otherwise I'm going to have to mess up that gorgeous face of yours!"

SheZap whirled around. She tossed her hands in the air, scattering rings and earrings all over the place. "Oh look, it's SheZow! Or should I say, Guy Hamdon! Oh, don't look so shocked, sugar plum. I'm sure everyone knows by now already."

"Yeah," said Guy, hoping the flush in his cheeks wasn't visible through the makeup, "so guess what, everyone knows who you are too, genius."

"Eh," SheZap shrugged. "I can disappear if I need to. You can't. Besides, now I can make a mess as my alternate self and I don't have to worry about making your parents cry."

Guy's hands tensed into fists, but before he could respond:

"SheZow'll make you cry first you little creep! Get him honey!" Droosha stood up in the passenger seat, hand on top of the windshield as she shouted.

SheZap winced. "You know what's great about being a clone? Not having a Mom."

Guy bristled. "That's it, you're going down!" He flew at SheZap but she leapt up into the air and dodged him.

"Sorry, got stuff to do. Make myself beautiful. Toodles!" SheZap flew off down the street.

"Get him, Guy," Droosha shouted at him. "I'll follow you." She was already climbing into the driver's seat of the Shehicle.

Guy briefly stalled. Was it a good idea to let his mother drive the Shehicle? But SheZap would get away if he didn't hurry. "Right." He pulled full power and flew off in SheZap's wake.


	4. Chapter 4

Boxter wasn't as hungry as he'd thought. He'd bought the biggest breakfast on the menu, mostly because in the confusion of last night he hadn't eaten anything. He should've been ravenous. But so far he'd only picked his way through half of the eggs, even the bacon wasn't all that appealing. At least it wasn't Kelly's money that had been spent on it.

"Are you sure you're okay, Dad?"

Boxter put his cutlery down and put his head in his hands. "Not really." He straightened back up with a sigh. "So how long has this been going on for?"

Kelly pushed a piece of avocado around her plate. "A bit over six months. Pretty much right after we moved into the house, Guy found the ring. Well actually I did but he had to be Guy and started mucking about with it… and then suddenly he's SheZow. So, yeah…"

"And you didn't tell us?"

"Of course not!" Kelly burst out. And then flushed under his gaze. "I mean, oh, you know all the stuff SheZow does… I guess we knew you wouldn't like it. And I don't know if it's dangerous if you guys knew or not… I don't know… I wouldn't have chosen to tell you like last night at any rate. Everything just happened so fast."

Boxter sighed. He wasn't about to start telling off the one member of his family who was actually trying. "I'm not mad at you, Kelly. You're the only one who's actually thought about how this makes me feel." He didn't want to be by himself through this. Whatever they ended up having to go through. "How bad is it? I mean, I wanted to know who SheZow was, you know, before. But I get that the whole secret identity thing is important."

Kelly shrugged. "It's bad, Dad. But I suppose it depends on how Megadale reacts."

Boxter squeezed his eyes shut briefly. "I know how the cops will react. I know how I would react, at least if it was anyone else. Doesn't he realise there're consequences to what he does? Now everyone knows exactly who to pin those consequences on. And it's not just going to affect him. Whose pocket does he think the money for all that damage is going to come from? We don't have money to throw around. I can't even make enough for a damn house unless my wife's aunt gives us one and she ends up leaving some stupid super ring lying around…"

"Aw, Dad…"

Boxter drew in a breath. "Sorry." He shouldn't be talking about stuff like that in front of her. He should've been talking to Droosha. But at the moment he wasn't even sure his wife would let him talk to her.

"I don't think he was trying to be mean to you by breaking everything," said Kelly. "He's just Guy. He doesn't think about stuff like that."

"He knew how I felt about it." Boxter looked down at his plate. How could he not? He spent nearly every night at the dinner table complaining about SheZow. "And please tell me all that stuff about going to the moon was just some joke you were playing on me."

Kelly started fiddling with her food again. "It's not. I guess if some silly superhero reveals their identity and things get bad they've got something set up to take care them. On the moon. Sheila gave me a brochure. But I'm not really game to look at it yet." She looked up at him then and met his gaze. "I don't want to go the moon either."

Boxter felt his guts clench. What had Droosha been thinking? "I'm sorry, honey."

"I mean, do you think there's any actually good colleges on the moon? Or at all?" Kelly huffed. "And it's not your fault, Dad."

"Your mother didn't think this through at all," Boxter scowled. He could blame Guy for what had been going on behind has back. But not for how he'd found out. Sure, Guy'd been a part of that. But Droosha was the adult. She'd gone and got all excited, got caught up in her ideal of how everyone should react, without considering how everyone would actually react. But he would expect her to figure out she'd been wrong now. And at least talk to him. And apologise. Then maybe they could work out how to deal with this. Not that he should have to deal with it. He never would have told Megadale Guy's secret identity. Not if he'd been given the choice.

"I'll talk to Sheila. See if there's anything we can do," said Kelly. "There's got to be a way to fix this mess."

Boxter groaned. "Meanwhile the whole town knows my son's running around saving the world in a dress."

"I don't think he even likes the dress. I guess it's draughty or something."

Boxter snorted. "Serves him right." Then he frowned. 'The ring doesn't like make him… change… you know… not just powers…"

"What? Dad! No!"

"Just checking."

A crash sounded from outside. Both Boxter and Kelly stood to their feet. A reaction from being a cop so long. At least for him. Kelly was almost as quick to jump up and almost as tense. Boxter stared at her and scowled. "You've been helping Guy with the superhero stuff, haven't you, Kelly? Not just the fan base."

His daughter flushed. "Well, someone had to keep an eye on him. Come on, we'd better go see what that was."

"Oh no, you stay in here where it's safe."

"Dad," she growled.

"You gotta pay the bill, remember?" At least he'd keep one of his kids out of the line of fire. Even if it was just for a few extra minutes. Boxter winked at her, and then headed outside before she could argue with him.

"Please don't let it be…" Boxter hadn't even finished the sentence when he saw a blur of pink shoot across the sky. He gritted his teeth. "Oh, great. Just what I need right now."

* * *

Guy shot after SheZap. Tailing her between buildings. Gaining. "Hey!" he yelled, once he'd closed the distance enough to be heard. "What's wrong, fatso? You gained a few pounds or something?"

SheZap flipped over in the air so she faced him. "I'm carrying extra weight!" She held up what remained of the jewellery she'd taken. Mostly chains which had wrapped themselves around her arms. "Oh, darn it…" The flight had made the entanglement even worse. Now one had entangled both her arms at once. She looked on the verge of tumbling through the air. "Should've brought a hand bag."

Guy closed the last few feet at speed and tackled SheZap. They spun end over end and crashed into the road, tearing up a chunk of bitumen on impact.

SheZap struggled to a sitting position, but was still fighting with the grossly entangled jewellery.

Guy stood to his feet. "Ha, what's wrong? Don't want to break your pretties?"

"Are you kidding? These are worth thousands, girlfriend." They were in the shadow of a building and suddenly SheZap's outline was losing integrity.

"Hey!" Guy jumped forward and grabbed at her but all he managed to grasp was the remaining jewellery.

SheZap melted into the building's shadow, cackling.

"That's it, run away!" Guy held up the tangled wad of jewellery. He winced. "Now I wonder where Mom is cause I might actually need help with this one."

"Hey, you're that kid that was on the news last night?" Some teenaged boy, a bit older than him, had just stepped out from behind a mailbox. Must've hid there when SheZap came crashing in.

"Yeah…"

"You're a boy?" He looked him up and down in a way Guy really didn't like. "You're an embarrassment, man. And what's with the voice?"

"Would this make you more comfortable?" Guy snapped, dropping the high-pitched voice. Which he might as well do anyway. Megadale knew who he was. They could get used to it.

The kid winced. "That's just freaking weird."

"Boo!" SheZap materialised from the shadow of the mailbox, right next to the boy, and grabbed his shoulder.

"Ahh!" the boy let out a shriek at least as high-pitched as the voice Guy usually put on, tripped over his own feet and crashed to the ground.

"What's wrong? You're not scared of a girl are you, sugar plum?" SheZap pulled out her own laser lipstick. "Or is it cause I've got something sharp and pointy?"

"Come on," Guy rolled his yes, "leave him alone."

"Why? He's kinda smack-talking both of us, isn't he? And chaos is my job… hey!" The boy had scrambled to his feet, running away up the street. "Yeah, run to your mommy!"

Not that he wasn't pleased to be free of the nuisance but he wasn't going to let SheZap dice some kid up. Even if he was annoying. Probably just jealous he didn't have superpowers. It wouldn't be like he'd have to put up with too many people like that.

And he had other things to worry about right now. Guy dropped the jewellery and pulled out his own laser lipstick. "You're going down, SheZap."

SheZap returned her gaze to Guy and smirked. "Okay, toots, let's play."

The hum of the lasers filled the air, clashing against each other. Guy gritted his teeth. Every move he made SheZap blocked. That was the problem with having a clone. He almost seemed to know exactly what he was going to do. Time to mix things up.

Guy smacked the laser lipstick down hard on his opponent's weapon, pushing her to the ground. But instead of forcing his advantage, something SheZap would surely block, Guy leapt back off her, grounded himself with his boots firmly planted on the ground, and let out a supersonic shriek.

Somehow SheZap saw it coming. She rolled across the ground, into a pool of shadow, just before the sound waves hit. Instead of messing up his opponents hair or knocking her down, Guy only managed to send a blast right through where SheZap had been seconds before. The sound waves hit a semi-trailer rumbling along the adjoining street instead.

Hit it in the rear trailer, bounced that right off the ground while simultaneously punching a hole through its side. A piece of the fender flew off, straight up into the air. The rear trailer crashed to the ground, dragging the front of the vehicle with it. The whole thing slid across the street with a screech of tortured metal before grinding to a halt. And then the fender dropped down, right onto the roof of a police cruiser parked nearby.

"Oh… crap…" Guy winced. "So not what I was going for…"

"Nice," SheZap said. She rematerialised beside him. "Can we break some more things?"

"How about I break your face?"

"Guy Hamdon!" The boom of his father's voice sent a chill down Guy's spine. What the hell was he doing here? He'd emerged from a coffee shop about halfway between Guy and the totalled truck. And yeah, he most certainly had not missed the surrounding destruction.

"Sherrific," Guy groaned. "It wasn't me!" he shouted back. "It was little miss sunshine over here…"

"Seriously?!" Boxter stomped his way up the footpath towards him. "Who the hell were you fighting? Or did you think you'd just cause a traffic accident for fun?"

"No…" Guy glanced beside him. SheZap was gone. So was all the jewellery he'd taken. Guy looked up and down the street. No sign whatsoever. "That little… I was fighting SheZap! And now thanks to you she got away!"

"Does the concept of lying low have any meaning to you? You just revealed your secret identity to the whole town, and the next day you're already trashing things?!"

"Chill out, Dad. You're not even on duty."

"Yeah, well turns out SheZow's my son. And I'm a dad full time, mister. So you can just march yourself back home right now and…"

"Um, Dad…"

"Don't try and…"

Guy grabbed his father by the arm. "No seriously, you might want to get back on the footpath."

The Shehicle had just rounded the corner. It narrowly slipped around the damaged truck, screeched sideways, then went into a full three sixty spin. Right before skidding into a perfect park just inches from where they stood.

"Wooh!" said Droosha, throwing her hands in the air. "Perfect parallel park!"

Boxter briefly looked a little pale. But he quickly recovered. "Droosha, what are you doing in that thing? Never mind… do you have any idea what your son's been up to? Trashing vehicles! See, this is why I have a problem with SheZow. It's the last thing we need right now. He's completely destroyed a truck and…" He looked back down the road. And then he frowned. "Is that my police cruiser?"

Droosha glanced back over her shoulder at the damage. She winced. "Oh. Did you manage to get SheZap?"

Guy huffed. "No. She got away. Someone," he glared at his father, "distracted me."

"Well, never mind. I'm sure we'll be able to find some other villain for you to take down. You'll have Megadale back on your side in no time."

Boxter tensed. "Don't. Encourage him."

"Why not?" Droosha stepped out of the Shehicle. She folded her arms. "He's a superhero. And our son. If this is what he wants to do with his life, we should be encouraging him."

"I'm not going to let my son throw away his life."

"I'm not! It's my life, Dad," Guy growled. Seriously? "How is being a superhero throwing away my life? If I wanted to do that, I'd… I'd become a cop!"

Boxter drew in a breath and looked at him.

He'd scored a point, and he'd scored it good. But he didn't feel as good about it as he'd thought he would.

"Guy…" Droosha sighed. "Look, Boxter, sweetheart, I get you're upset. It wasn't fair to make it all about Guy when it was your birthday. I'm going to get you a present, make it up to you, I promise."

Boxter folded his arms tightly across his chest. "How about an apology?"

Droosha rolled her eyes. "I said I'm sorry about your birthday; I'm going to make it up to you! What I'd like you to do is to stop taking it out on Guy. It's not his fault."

"Not that! You…" he groaned and pressed his hand to the bridge of his nose. "You know what, you're not going to get it anyway. But you're right, it's not Guy's fault. You're the one who threw a party to tell the whole town…"

"Hey! Mom may have thrown it for me; I wanted to tell…" Guy started.

"Yeah? So how come you didn't until Mom knew about it?" Boxter snapped.

"Maybe because she actually likes the fact I'm SheZow! I was too worried about what you'd think!"

"See, Boxter?" Droosha folded her arms. "You're not helping…"

"Neither are you!" Boxter exploded. "Guy is a kid; you're right, it's not his fault! But you should know better. You want to make a decision like that by yourself? Fine! But when this all goes to the dogs it'll be on your head!"

"You're being childish, Boxter. The town will come around."

"Do you even have any idea how the justice system works, or are you just going to keep saying it'll 'be alright'? You realise Guy is going to have to deal with the law?"

"Yeah, well if that's the case, the law is wrong."

"Argh, don't give me that hippy crap!"

Droosha took a step forwards and Boxter stepped back. "You know what, Boxter? You want to behave like this, fine. But I don't have to put up with it and neither does Guy." She pulled out her wallet, pulled out a dollar, and slapped it into the middle of Boxter's chest. "And you can buy your own damn present."

As if he hadn't drawn enough attention to himself already. Now his parents had decided to have a domestic right in the middle of the street. There was already a small crowd gathering. At least it didn't look set to last. His father had snatched the wad of cash from Droosha's hand. He was seething, but he didn't even look capable of forming any more words.

"Come on," Droosha climbed back into the Shehicle. "You've got villains to vanquish, sweetheart. Don't let anyone pull you down."

Guy glanced at his father, but he wasn't looking at him. Instead he was crumpling the dollar bill up in his hands.

"Right," Guy jumped into the driver's side of the Shehicle, and they tore off up the street.

* * *

 **A/n:** I feel like I'm being mean to Boxter. But he's nowhere near as good at standing up for himself as Droosha and Guy are. XD Don't worry, there'll be more angst for everyone to go around. If you've got the time and are enjoying this please give me a review; I love hearing what people think about how I'm handling characters they love. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Kelly stepped out of the coffee shop and surveyed the damage. She huffed. "Yeah, well done, Guy." He really had made a mess. She'd guessed it was him; heard her father shouting even as he stepped outside. But it'd taken long enough to pay the bill and so she'd missed all the action.

There was a truck on it's side up the street and a firetruck had arrived. At least it didn't look as if anyone had been injured. That would've been the last thing they needed. Still, that had to cost money. And then there was the ripped up bitumen in the street.

And Dad's cop car. Kelly spotted it last, a little clear of the wreckage of the truck. A piece of metal was resting on it's roof, nestled in a huge dent. Boxter was standing next to it, just staring and turning over a piece of paper in one hand.

"Dad," Kelly grabbed his arm. "What happened?"

It took him a second to respond. "Your Mom finally gave me her present." He handed her the bit of paper he'd been playing with. It was a dollar bill.

What the hell had possessed her mother? Didn't she realise how hurt Dad already was? She glanced back up at him. He was still staring at the car, and he swallowed hard. For one brief moment she worried he was going to cry.

"Anyone would think I was the one who'd caused all this trouble," he said. He glared at the chunk of metal still sitting on the top of the car. Huffed, and then grabbed at it. He had to lean back with his full weight to even get it moving.

Kelly winced. "Wait…" He was going to hurt himself.

But the metal moved with a screech and then clattered to the pavement. Boxter just managed to jump out of its way, but it didn't seem to bother him. "Buy your own present; I'll show her," he muttered.

Kelly sighed. "Dad, I'm sorry. I know this sucks."

Boxter's gaze softened. "Come on, I need to take this back to Wackerman. It should still drive."

She didn't really need to come with him. She could've walked home from here and it would take her less time than going with Dad and then going home. But Kelly didn't think he was simply offering to save her some time. He wanted the company.

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

Guy wasn't sure if there was anyone else to beat up. Like, should they be stirring up trouble if there wasn't any? Usually he would go and muck around with Maz if this was nothing for SheZow to do. But there was Mom…

"What about the tentacle guy? You could take him down?"

"Who, Mocktopus? He has to actually do something first, Mom." Guy gritted his teeth and rolled his eyes. He spotted Maz on the side of the road, waving at him. Maybe his best friend's presence would cool Mom off a bit. Guy brought the Shehicle to a screeching halt.

"Oh hi, Guy." Maz looked nervously at Droosha.

"Hi, Maz," said Droosha. "It's okay, I get it, you two want to hang out."

Well, that was a lot easier than he had expected. Guy let out a sigh of relief. "Yeah, if you don't mind, Mom. Me and Maz usually take down villains together."

"Well, just make sure you make it look good. You've got to build back up your reputation." She grabbed Guy and kissed him on the cheek.

"Mom! You're going to smudge my makeup!"

"Nonsense, it looks fine. Now, hurry on out. I need to go and get some groceries."

Guy had half opened the door to the Shehicle when he realised: "Hey, but this is my car…"

"Guy, I can't carry groceries home without a vehicle, now can I? Go on." She was already scooting over into the driver's seat and crowding him out.

He had more than enough physical strength to hold his ground. But it was his Mom. Guy didn't really have any choice but to get out.

"Bye, sweetie!" Droosha waved at them and then tore off down the road with a screech of tyres. The smell of burnt rubber hung in the air.

"Um, Guy? Dude, she just took your car…"

Guy huffed and his shoulders slumped. "I know. Too late to take back telling the whole town though, huh?"

Maz shrugged. "Your Mom did already know."

"Who's idea was this again?"

"Yours."

"Yeah thanks, Maz."

"So what now?"

"She's right about one thing. I need to do something fancy to buff my reputation back up."

"So we're fighting baddies?"

"If we can find any…"

"Right. Hang on." Maz zipped off, leaving Guy standing alone on the sidewalk.

Guy sighed again and stomped his foot.

Seconds later, Maz returned. He was wearing a red cape and a big red balloon taped to the top of his head. "I am the Scarlet Pimple! Master of disguise!"

"Master of disguise? You look full of hot air to me."

"Haha, very funny. It's just that, no offence dude, but I think I'm going to keep my identity secret. Just seems, you know, too much trouble."

Guy huffed again.

"At least, you know, when you're SheZow. Wouldn't want people getting the wrong idea."

"Like what?" Guy scowled.

Maz shrugged and scuffed a shoe on the ground. "I don't know."

He couldn't be mad at Maz. Just because he was ready for the spotlight it didn't mean his friend had to be. At least, he hoped he was ready for the spotlight. He'd find out soon enough. "Come on, Maz…"

"Ahem!" Maz folded his arms.

"Oh excuse me, Scarlet Pimple," Guy rolled his eyes. "Let's find some bad guys."

* * *

It didn't take long to drive back to Wackerman's. The damage to the car was only superficial. Well, technically. No self respecting cop would take it out and the department would want the massive dent fixed anyway. It just looked bad.

Wackerman wasn't happy either. He stood at his front door, staring dumbly at the police cruiser parked at his curb.

"Sorry," Boxter mumbled. He was still boiling after talking to Droosha but he knew the damaged car put his partner in a spot. "SheZow decided to be a little…" He couldn't finish the sentence. Even as mad as he was at Guy. Calling his son names was entirely different to dropping 'SheCows' when he hadn't known any better. Besides, Kelly was right there.

Wackerman winced. "Yeah, I saw the news. Must be tough finding out your son's your arch-nemesis. Awkward."

"Yeah, Wackerman. That's exactly what it is. 'Awkward'." Boxter rolled his eyes. Wackerman didn't have kids - he had no idea. He huffed. "Here." Tossed him the keys.

Wackerman snatched them out of the air. "Wait. You want a lift home?"

"No." Boxter turned and headed back out to the footpath.

Kelly looked up at him and frowned. "Come on, Dad. It's too far to walk home."

"We're not walking home. We just need to go a few streets."

"Okay…" Kelly was losing patience. She didn't hide her feelings very well. At least when she was frustrated. But she seemed to at least be trying to keep it under wraps. And Boxter needed someone with him, at least so he knew someone was on his side.

"Where are we going?" Kelly asked. She struggled to keep up with his pace.

"Your mother told me to buy myself a present. Well, that's what I'm going to do."

"Dad, come on. She's being petty, that doesn't mean you have to be too. And she gave you a dollar, what are you going to do with a dollar?"

"It's my money anyway."

"What? Because she doesn't work? Don't get me started," Kelly growled.

Boxter huffed. "That's not what I meant. Our money."

They'd arrived at his intended destination. The car yard.

"Dad," Kelly began suspiciously as they turned into it. "Why are we here?"

"What's your favourite colour, Kelly?"

Kelly glared at him, then she just sighed. She slowly scanned the yard. "I don't know about colour, but… I do like that Mustang."

Boxter raised an eyebrow, and despite his mood, smiled faintly. Man, his daughter was quick. And not too shabby at picking vehicles. She was pointing to a bright red machine. Not a classic; it was one of the newer models, not more than five or six years old, beyond that he wasn't into cars enough to pinpoint it exactly. It probably didn't have the same kind of power but it did look a lot nicer than SheZow's pink supercar.

"Yeah, I like it too." Boxter headed over.

Kelly trailed behind him. "Dad, wait. You're not serious? You're just looking at things you can't have, right? Right?" She walked around the car, stopping at the front windshield, where the price was painted on in orange chalk paint. "You can't afford this. And you can't just buy a car cause Mom made you mad."

"Watch me." If Droosha could make stupid decisions without talking to him, so could he.


	6. Chapter 6

"Is that Mocktopus?" Guy groaned. "Seriously?"

After searching around for some villains, Guy and Maz had finally found Mocktopus. In the middle of the park, in the fountain. Apparently he thought it was a good place for a swim.

The families enjoying the park didn't seem to agree with him. Most were running and screaming. The few that weren't were having to put up with Mocktopus.

"Come on, people. I'm trying to have a bath here!"

"You think this rates high enough on the list to get Megadale back on side?" Maz asked.

"Maz, he's bathing, that's disgusting." Guy screwed up his face. "Of course they'll thank us."

Mocktopus picked up a nearby ball and hurled it at some kids. "No one around here has any manners!"

"Hey, fish face!" Guy slipped up next to him and yanked a tentacle. "Get out of the fountain. It's gross, dude."

Mocktopus let out a little squeal and snatched back his tentacle. "Oh it's you, SheZow. You're all over the news, you know." He let out a chuckle. "I never would have guessed you were a pansy."

"A what now?" Guy frowned.

"Look at you in your pretty little skirt! You come to teach me a lesson?"

"Yeah, actually." Guy balled up his fists.

Mocktopus finally started to look worried. "Oh oh."

"Super heavy handed she slap!" Guy shouted. He slapped Mocktopus clean out of the fountain.

"Woo! Go SheZow!" A girl shouted.

That was more like it.

"Alright, get out of here Mocktopus! You can't bath in a fountain!"

"Oh, excuse me!? If it's so inappropriate how come you get to run around in a skirt?"

"This is why…" Guy grabbed a tentacle and began to spin Mocktopus around. And around.

"Stop it! I take it back! I take it back!"

"Okay then…" Guy released Mocktopus.

He sailed across the road and smashed into a building, then clattered to the ground in a mess of loose bricks.

"Oops… eh, that can't be that expensive." Guy turned around to the small crowd that was now popping out from behind bushes and park benches. "Alright, everyone, Mocktopus is gone. You don't have to put up with him anymore."

"Mommy!" said one little boy. "I want to dress up as SheZow!"

"You can't, he's wearing a dress…"

"But he's a boy…"

"You're just as big a menace as Mocktopus!" the mother snapped, before picking up her child and stomping off.

Guy winced. "Okay then…."

"I don't know," said a girl about Guy's age, who sounded like the one who had cheered him on before. "Kinda takes a real man to wear pink. So can I have your autograph, SheZow? Make it out to Kathy."

"Okay," Guy grinned. "At least this is kinda working…" He signed the notepad the girl offered him. Then he paused and added his number. She knew he was a guy so worth a shot, right?

"Heads up, media van at ten o'clock," said Maz.

Perfect. "Now there's one way to get some good publicity."

Maz glanced sideways at him and gritted his teeth. "You sure, dude? Don't you think you've had enough publicity already? What if they react like that lady did?"

"I'm sure they're smart like this girl…"

"Kathy," she said, rolling her eyes. "Tip, remember names. You're going to need all your charm on your side."

"Heh," Guy grinned sheepishly. "Yeah okay."

"I'm bailing, romeo. I hate cameras."

Brian Smirk rolled up in his news van seconds later. "SheZow! We've been looking for you everywhere. Care to do a interview to show Megadale you're still the superheroine they've come to love?"

"Just don't try and make me look bad," Guy said. Sure, he wanted to get some publicity. But there was something about Brian Smirk he wasn't sure about. He was pretty certain he'd called him 'SheCow' on the news a couple times. The only person he'd let that one slide with was his Dad.

"Come on, it's what a real man would do, am I right?" Brian said. Already he was setting up his microphone. "Show the world you've got the… er… guts, to make a statement."

"Um, yeah, sure okay."

"Guy…"

But before Maz could say anything more, Brian was facing the cameraman who'd set up in front of him. "Good morning, Megadale! I have with my here Guy Hamdon. Who up until recently we've all known as the superheroine, SheZow. Well, 'she' is still super, but we now learn this 'girl' has a little something extra up his… sleeve."

"Beg your pardon?" Maz growled, just loud enough for Guy to hear.

"So, Guy, tell us, when did you decide to start wearing pink? And what made you decide it'd be a good idea to save the world in said getup?"

"Er…" Guy was used to the limelight by now, so he had expected to be a little more sure of himself. Instead he found himself sweating and tongue tied. "Well, I've got this ring, which was my aunt's… and now I'm SheZow. It's stuck, so… I don't actually like wearing the skirt."

"Right. So you're stuck as SheZow. What would you say to the allegation that you're taking a woman's job? I mean, SheZow has always been a woman."

Allegation? Stupid big words, this was hard enough. "Huh? No one's ever said…"

"Just answer the question."

"No… I mean, it's not a woman's job at the moment, is it? It's my job, so right now it's a… a Guy job…" There, bit of humour always helped.

"There you have it, folks. SheZow thinks being a superhero is a guy's job."

What the… "That's not what I said! Are you dense?"

"Woah. No need to get defensive, SheZow. I guess those hormones come with the outfit, huh?"

"Hey," Maz growled. "You're putting words in my buddy's mouth, stop it."

Brian Smirk continued unabashed. "And your friend here, what's his story? Is he just your sidekick or is there something more going on?"

"Like what?" Guy asked.

"I'm not saying anything," said Maz, folding his arms. "And neither should you, Guy."

"Hey, I've got this okay?" He wasn't going to back down, not when he had the chance to get Megadale back on side.

"Don't you see what he's doing?"

"Looks like there's a little jealousy in the ranks, folks," said Brian Smirk.

"I don't have to put up with this!" Maz snapped. "Neither should you."

"I said I've got this!"

Maz threw his hands in the air and stomped out of the camera frame.

Guy swallowed hard. Making his case with Maz by his side was one thing. Now his backup was gone. But he could still do this. "Look, Brian," he cleared his throat. "How about you ask me about all the good I've done for Megadale? I've saved it from countless villains, stopped untold disasters…"

Brian was flicking through notes on a tablet, just below the frame of the camera. "That's not how an interview works, kid, but I'll roll with it. Okay, good you've done Megadale, you say? What about all the damage? Nearly six big ones, dollars that is, of damage to Megadale's infrastructure. And that's in the last month alone."

"Six thousand dollars?" Guy baulked. Wow. No wonder his Dad was mad. "But that can't be more than the cost of things I've stopped happening."

"Try six hundred thousand. Unfortunately, it's a lot harder to get figures for disasters you stopped happening. I'm a journalist; I can only report on the facts."

Guy's head spun. "But I…"

"I hope you make a lot of cash with your fan club. Cause Megadale's going to find some way to get that money. What do you plan on doing about that?"

"I…"

"You get pocket money? Or your parents going to foot the bill? You are underage, after all. You're their responsibility."

Guy tugged at his collar and then the edge of his skirt. Six hundred thousand dollars in one month. His parents couldn't afford that. And most of Megadale seemed to think he was some weirdo who ran around in pink for the fun of it. Brian wasn't helping his case for that either. Why had Mom let him tell? Why had he chosen to? In a split second he realised he wanted to take it all back. But he couldn't. And no TV interview could fix that, least of all one with Brian Smirk.

"What on earth possessed you to reveal your secret identity, SheZow?"

Guy opened his mouth but all that came out was a squeak. His throat closed up and he could feel his hands start to shake. The whole world felt like it was pressing in on him. At least he chose flight as his escape, as opposed to something more damaging like a supersonic shriek. He rocketed up into the sky and shot away.

* * *

Droosha hauled her groceries out of the Shehicle. The car had been a great help; so much faster than her own. If only she'd thought to bring Guy with her; she could use his super strength right now. She settled for picking up only half of the grocery bags. She'd come back for the rest.

It was so exciting. Her own son was SheZow! If only Boxter could see how wonderful it was. But she knew he'd come around. He just got so caught up with how it would look, always worried about what people would think. Maybe she had been a little mean to him earlier.

But it wouldn't matter. Guy would find something that would get him back in Megadale's good books and then Boxter would have nothing to worry about. Guy was probably doing that right now.

A whooshing sound, like a jet coming in low, filled the air. A pink blur streak across the sky towards their house. And then punched straight through Guy's bedroom window in a tinkle of glass.

Droosha winced. "Oh Guy, come on!" If he thought just because they knew he was SheZow he could break his own house, he had another think coming. It certainly wouldn't help Boxter come around.

Droosha huffed, hoisted her grocery bags and dumped them on the floor inside. She made her way upstairs. "Guy!"

He wouldn't acknowledge her, so she pushed her way through his bedroom door. Glass was scattered across the floor. Her son was still SheZow; he sat on the end of his bed and gripped tightly onto its edge as he gasped for breath.

"Oh, sweetheart," Droosha sat next to him and put a hand on his back. She could feel him shaking. "Are you hurt?" It hadn't occurred to her that anything could harm him with superpowers, but something certainly wasn't right.

Guy drew in a breath and stood to his feet, pulling away from her touch. "She-yeah." He deactivated his transformation.

Well, he couldn't have been hurt that badly. Droosha felt some of the tension leave her. "Honey, what happened?"

Guy had his back to her and he was fiddling with the ring on his finger. "Why'd you make me tell?"

"Sorry?"

Guy whirled back around. "Why'd you make me tell, Mom?! Now all of Megadale hates me! Or thinks I'm some kind of freak! Or they want me to pay some ridiculous amount to cover everything I've damaged…"

Droosha stood back to her feet. "Guy, calm down." Someone had got to him. "Who told you that? You've been saving Megadale for months, you don't just suddenly become a freak because you reveal your identity…"

"Brian Smirk," Guy muttered. "But it's what everyone else is thinking."

"Maybe you should stay away from the media. They'll twist anything to suit…"

"It's not the media that's the problem! I never should have told!" Guy exploded. For a moment he looked like he was going to burst into tears. He swallowed hard. "I only did it because you said everything would be alright."

"Guy… it's a bit more complicated than that…"

"Well, why didn't you tell me that then, Mom? I can't take it back now, can I?"

"I thought you wanted to…"

"Yeah, well now I don't. It was like six hundred thousands dollars in damage and you guys are going to have to pay it… and… no one wants me to be SheZow! It's not SheZow that's the problem; it's me!"

"Guy, that's not true." Droosha felt her guts clench. Her son was beside himself. No one had a right to tell him he couldn't be SheZow. What, because he was a boy?

"No, Mom. It is. So I guess Sheila was right. We're going to have to move to the moon. I'll tell her to book us a flight. Or a shuttle… whatever…"

No way a couple of idiots would make her family budge just cause they'd upset her son. "Guy, no one's kicked us out of Megadale yet. And until then…"

"I don't want to stay here if this is how people are going to treat me!" Guy said. "You pushed me into this, so now I don't have any choice!"

Droosha swallowed hard. Guy was looking at her with wide eyes, and she could feel her heart begin to ache. Had she really pushed him into it? She'd thought he'd been excited. Maybe he had been, but so had she. Maybe some of that had rubbed off on her son. Maybe she was the only reason he'd done it. "Sweetheart… I… I can… look, we'll work this out…"

Guy pushed past her. "I don't want to talk to you right now, Mom."

Droosha was left in her son's bedroom alone. She hadn't realised… what the hell was she supposed to do? She figured she should at least clean up that glass.

* * *

Boxter had to drive the Mustang around the block a couple of times before he was game to bring it into their driveway. Despite being now committed to a confrontation, he still had to work his way up to it.

And if he drove around any more he risked irritating Kelly even further. She sat in the passenger seat silently, but she had her arms crossed and wouldn't look at him.

The Shehicle was already in the driveway when Boxter pulled up. He scowled. Was there really any point in hiding it though? He briefly considered parking it in but with Guy's track record breaking things he didn't want to risk it. He parked the Mustang against the curb instead.

"Well, here goes nothing…" he muttered.

Kelly threw opened the passenger door as soon as he turned off the engine and headed up into the house. Well, he couldn't blame her.

Boxter followed more slowly. He glanced up at the house, and Guy's bedroom window caught his eye. The glass was completely smashed. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Boxter!" His wife's voice brought his attention back down. She stood in the doorway, hands on her hips. "Is that a Mustang?"

Boxter squared his shoulders. "Well, you told me to buy my own present, didn't you?"

Droosha just stared at him. "You bought it? Now?!"

"Yeah, I did. Sorry, did you want me to ask your permission first?"

Droosha glared at him. She'd gotten his point then? Good. "I bet you think you're real clever, huh?" she said. "I can't even deal with you right now. You want to behave like a kid, fine. But your own son, who is actually a kid, needs you to stop trying to rustle up sympathy for poor little you and start acting like a real father!"

Boxter's hands tensed at his side. "Well, excuse me for doing the exact same thing you did!"

"You know a car like that just makes it look like you're compensating for something!"

Boxter stomped back down to the Mustang, climbed in and slammed the door. Started up the engine. He'd at least get some fun out of this thing. Maybe that would make him feel better. And he wouldn't have to put up with Droosha. He put his foot to the floor and screeched away from the curb.

* * *

 **A/n:** I almost feel the need to apologise for some of the behaviour of some of the characters (I'm looking at you Brian!). I'll make them pay for it later, promise.


	7. Chapter 7

Kelly made her way down into the she-lair. "Guy? Are you hiding out down here?" It wouldn't surprise her.

"Hey…" Guy sat in front of Sheila. He swung around in the chair and gave her a tentative smile as she entered. It was far from his usual self-assured and smart-alec expression and it caused Kelly to stall.

She'd been planning to give him a bollocking. She'd told him not to reveal his identity! So had Sheila. But no, he had to do it his way. Now Mom and Dad were fighting and Dad had dragged her across town just to get back at Mom. If she hadn't forgotten his birthday, she would've ditched him long time.

But on seeing Guy's face she knew something was wrong. "What happened?" she said instead.

Guy let out a deep sigh and slumped in the chair. "Megadale doesn't seem as excited about the fact I'm SheZow as Mom."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "No, really? Well, that would be pretty hard…"

"You might have been right, sis."

Kelly thought she'd feel some satisfaction on hearing her brother admit this, but no. "Well, yeah, I know. But why the change of heart?"

Guy shrugged. Less of an 'I don't know' expression and more like what he said next made him immensely uncomfortable. "Watch the news. I'm sure it'll be all over the place. I did an interview with Brian Smirk…"

"You talked to the media?" Kelly groaned.

Guy glared at her. "Yeah, I did, alright? I figured it'd help to explain myself. Turns out I, or SheZow, owes Megadale hundreds of thousands of dollars… that on top of it apparently being ridiculous for a twelve year old boy to run around saving the world in pink. Like that should even matter."

"You didn't even realise this was going to happen, did you?" Stupid as it sounded, Kelly didn't find it that hard to believe. Her brother could be so overconfident he never would've realised people might take issue when they found out who SheZow was. Or if he had, he'd have thought it was something he could easily deal with.

Guy looked down sheepishly and shook his head.

"So the question is, what are we going to do now?"

"Yeah, I'm working on that. We're… Sheila?"

"Guy has asked me to make arrangements for your family's trip to the moon," Sheila chimed in.

"No!" Kelly burst out. She'd known that was on the table. But it was hardly… This was all going too fast! "No one's going to the moon! I didn't agree to this, Guy. You can't just decide we're all going to the moon because you're uncomfortable."

"Guy's only put a motor on the inevitable, sweetheart," said Sheila. "You may not have much choice. The Superhero Action Guild is pretty clear on the rectification action for the revelation of a superhero's identity."

Kelly tensed and rounded on the computer. "It's a GUILD, Sheila. Not the bloody cops!"

Guy raised an eyebrow at his sister's language but she ignored him.

"Which SheZow happens to be a member of," said Sheila calmly. "However, I am also trying to find any loopholes. It's not only the Guild, but it may depend on how dangerous things get for your family. There is a reason superheroes don't reveal their identity, Guild or no Guild." And with that she disappeared from the screen.

"She doesn't seem to want to talk, does she?" Guy sighed.

"I don't blame her. But why'd you ask her to fast track moving to the moon, Guy? You don't seriously want to go there?"

Guy looked down at his feet. "It's better than Megadale's going to be."

"For you, maybe. But what about the rest of us? We can't just fly back to earth whenever it suits us. And I seriously doubt they've got some sort of shuttle service."

"Kelly, I get it, alright?! I made a mistake. But I'm not staying here. And Mom seemed cool with it."

"Well, good for her. But Dad isn't. On top of everything else you've done to him…"

"I did nothing to Dad!" Guy folded his arms. "That's his own problem!"

"Ugh!" Kelly threw her hands in the air. "Do you have any idea how selfish you're being?! You think I want to go to the moon? Or do I just need to learn to deal with it too?"

"Well, I'm not dealing with Megadale…" Guy growled.

"I don't want to deal with you right now! But what choice do I have?" Why was her brother being such an idiot?

"You have no idea what they did to me!"

"Yeah, this is all Megadale's fault. Keep telling yourself that, Guy. You had nothing to do with it."

"Would you just leave me alone!" Guy stood to his feet and headed across the she-lair.

"Where are you going?!" Kelly demanded.

"To play video games."

"Yeah, because that'll solve everything!" Kelly huffed and turned on her heel. Goddess, she hoped Sheila could find a way out. One thing was certain - she was not going to the moon because of her idiot brother.

* * *

Boxter came home later that evening. Droosha heard the Mustang roar up and shut down with a splutter. But she was in no frame of mind to pay him any attention. She was watching the news.

Brian Smirk's interview was being played. Over and over again. And despite the fact that every time she saw it she felt like it was ripping her heart out, somehow, she couldn't quite stop herself watching it. Over and over again.

She'd put her son in a position to have to deal with something like that. It was getting harder and harder for her to blame the outside world for what he'd been put through.

Boxter stomped indoors, there was a clink as he dropped his keys on the kitchen counter, then his stride became more cautious as he made his way into the lounge room. Droosha could feel his presence behind her but for a long moment he was silent. He was watching the interview.

"When did this happen?" he growled, when the news finally switched over to weather.

Droosha could hear the anger in his voice. Knew that for once today it wasn't directed at her. But for the first time she felt that maybe it should be.

"Earlier today," she sniffed, finding her voice was relatively steady. "Guy's disappeared down into the she-lair."

"Have you talked to him?"

"He made if very clear he didn't want to talk to me." Droosha could feel the tears starting up again. She didn't turn around, because she didn't want Boxter to see.

Boxter shifted his weight behind her, like he was going to put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. He must've thought better of it. "I'll go talk to him," he said. But his voice was noticeably softer. He paused. "What's a she-lair? And where is it?"

"There's an entrance in the basement. It's open."

Boxter sighed. "Right. Why couldn't Aunt Agnes have something normal in her basement," he muttered as he left, "like a drug lab?"

* * *

He was doing a lot of creeping about his own house lately. But Boxter wasn't sure if the she-lair even counted as a part of the house. He looked up at the ceiling and all around as he walked in. It was like a bloody pink bat-cave. He spotted Guy across the far side. He had a television down here and it currently looked as if he was playing video games. Boxter scowled. Well, so much for keeping tabs on his screen time.

"Ah, I was wondering when you would get down here, Boxter."

For a moment Boxter wasn't sure where the voice had come from. Then he saw the massive computer in the centre of the lair. It was she who had spoken. A pair of pink lips dominated the screen.

"Um…" Boxter stalled for a moment. But he'd just found out his son was SheZow. A talking computer was probably not the strangest thing he would encounter. "Yeah. How did you know…um…"

"Sheila. I have eyes and ears all over Megadale. I have seen some of your work."

"Yeah, well," Boxter shrugged. "It's nothing spectacular."

"Which puts me in a good position to see why you might be upset about some of SheZow's… techniques. I am sorry you had to find out about your son like this, Boxter. I tried to get him to consider the repercussions but unfortunately he didn't listen to me."

For a moment Boxter was lost for words. The last place he expected an apology to come from was a computer. "I…" He glanced across at Guy again. He was wired up to a pair of headphones and oblivious to either him or Sheila. "What sort of repercussions are we talking about?"

"There's a reason superheroes don't reveal their identities. It gets complicated. It has gotten complicated in the past. Things have happened to their families…"

"Like what?"

Sheila didn't answer right away.

"I'm not Guy, Sheila. You can tell me."

"There have been kidnappings. Deaths. That's why the Superhero Action Guild insists on the relocation program."

"To the moon?"

"Yes."

So that wasn't just crazy talk. "I can't move my family to the moon."

Sheila sighed. "I'm doing everything I can to make sure that does not happen. But right now I suggest you talk to your son."And with that Sheila disappeared from the screen.

Boxter drew in a breath but it was no use fighting with a computer. He turned to Guy and swallowed hard. He hoped it would be that easy. He stepped up behind his son.

"Kelly, I told you I just wanted to be left alone…" Guy glanced over his shoulder, pulling the headphones off one ear, then froze. "Dad…"

"Hey," Boxter forced a smile. It probably didn't come out very reassuring.

Guy swallowed.

"Look, I saw the news…"

"I did my best, okay! You were right though, everyone's going to hate me." He let out a huff and put his head in his hands, knocking off the headphones in the process.

Boxter felt his heart sink. He'd been worried about Megadale's reaction, sure. But it hadn't quite hit him how that might affect Guy. Some part of him had expected his son to keep up the belligerent sass and remain oblivious to the mess he'd been making. That it would be him his son's ridiculous decision would hurt most. He realised now how selfish that had been. "Guy, I'm sorry." He sunk down onto the bean bag next to his son.

Guy glanced at him warily. "Huh? I thought you were mad at me?"

"Yeah, I am. That doesn't mean I want to see you get hurt."

"I'm fine…"

Boxter met his gaze.

"Okay, I'm not. Why does everyone have to get so uptight about SheZow being me anyway? Why does that mean they have to be such jerks?"

"If you run around Megadale in a dress, people are going to say things…"

Guy gritted his teeth. "So that means I have to put up with it? Kelly runs around Megadale in a dress! I'm pretty sure you'd be ropable if Brian Smirk did something like that to her."

"Yeah, but…" Boxter trailed off. What the hell was he doing? His shoulders slumped and he put his head in one hand.

"Bet your real disappointed in your son, huh?"

Boxter looked up but Guy had returned his attention to the video game. At least, he'd pretended to.

"Not for the reasons you might think. Yeah, I'm mad you've been messing up Megadale behind my back. And that you decided to reveal your identity in probably the most ridiculous way possible, and I couldn't do anything about it. But how people react isn't your fault, you're right."

Guy looked back at him but Boxter couldn't hold his gaze.

"And I'm also scared either you or someone else I care about is going to get hurt in all this," he finished.

Guy paused for a long moment. "I'm sorry, Dad," he finally said.

Well, that was something at least. "It's fine. We just need to figure out what we're supposed to do now."

"Sheila's working on it," said Guy.

Boxter didn't trust himself to reply. He couldn't let his family go to the moon. It was ridiculous. But he wasn't going to have an argument with Guy about it now. Instead, he stood to his feet. "Don't stay down here too late, okay? You need to sleep. And I know where you're hiding out now, so if you try and stay up I'll come down and chase you out."

"Dad…" Guy groaned. At least that was somewhat normal.

"I mean it." Boxter ruffled a hand through his son's hair, then made his way out of the she-lair, giving Sheila's oversized console a suspicious glance as he passed. A giant sentient computer under his basement. And that was the least of his worries.

Boxter steeled himself as he went back upstairs. He hoped he wouldn't have to deal with Droosha. She seemed to at least realise what she'd done to Guy. Good. Immediately following that thought Boxter felt a pang of remorse. Droosha wouldn't intentionally do anything to hurt the kids. But she still had. The remorse was short lived. Wouldn't catch him doing something like that. What had she been thinking?

* * *

 **A/n:** Sorry I haven't had the chance to post recently. I've been away with work. Then I came home and found my internet was broken. It's still broken. I'm posting this using my mobile data. This is how much I love you all. Leave me a review. ;) But, on the bright side, not having much internet means I do a lot of writing instead of mucking around on the net. I've drafted like four chapters ahead of this.


	8. Chapter 8

Guy rolled over in bed, cracked his eyes opened and groaned. It was Monday. He did not want to go to school today. For a moment he allowed himself to think it was the usual Monday morning blues. Then he pushed himself up and looked blearily at his phone.

Several missed calls flashed back at him. All from Maz. He'd known he'd been calling but had ignored him. He'd left a message. Drawing in a breath, Guy put the phone to his ear and dialled voice mail.

"Dude, will you talk to me please?" said Maz's recorded voice. "I'm so, so sorry I bailed on you in the middle of that interview. I'm supposed to be your best friend, not a coward, I … argh… will you just call me, man?"

Guy disconnected and dropped the phone on the bed. Maz didn't need to apologise. He didn't blame him. In his position, he would probably have done the same thing. He should've done the same thing. Bailed as soon as Brian started pushing his luck. But he couldn't work up the energy to call Maz back. He'd see him at school anyway. It was better they talked face to face.

School. Guy groaned again, pushed himself to his feet and got dressed, and then headed downstairs.

Breakfast did nothing to lift his mood. Dad was still hiding upstairs. Kelly was intermittently glaring at him. And Mom wouldn't meet his gaze.

Then there was a knock at the door.

Droosha just about dropped her bowl of cereal in a fluster. "That had better not be any…" she trailed off, glancing at both him and Kelly so that Guy wondered what she had been going to say. But she didn't finish; instead got up and went to the door.

"Wonder who that could be?" Guy muttered.

Kelly looked up and glared at him. "Maybe it's the media."

Guy scowled, but before he could snap out a retort a commotion of arguing voice came from their front hallway.

And loudest of all, Droosha's as she shouted: "Boxter! Come and tell your buddies they are not arresting our son!"

Guy's eyes widened and he dropped his spoon on the floor.

Kelly made eye contact with him. "You gotta get out of here, Guy."

"Guess I'd better." Stupid cops! What were they going to charge him with? Doing their jobs for them? Guy stood to his feet.

Boxter stomped downstairs. He was already dressed in his uniform. Definitely had been hiding. "Alright, quit shouting," he muttered. He stopped in the kitchen and glared at Guy. "Oh no you don't," he growled.

"What?" Guy asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.

"You're in enough trouble as it is. Don't go running off."

"But they're going to arrest me!"

"Guy!" Boxter shouted. Then he drew in a breath and lowered his voice. "Guy, will you just trust me on this, alright? Don't run. We'll work it out."

Every muscle in his body was tense. But maybe his father was right. Guy swallowed, then nodded.

"Boxter!"

Boxter winced. "Give me a break." He went out to the front hall.

Guy trailed behind him. There were three cop cars parked out front. At least a half dozen cops. Seriously, what did they expect SheZow to do?

Droosha was leaning against the open door, arms folded. She glared at the other cops, but she turned it onto Boxter as he came in.

"What's wrong, honey?" Boxter scowled.

"Oh, I don't know, honey. You might want to ask your friends here."

If it was possible for the cops to look anymore sheepish, they did. One of them shoved Wackerman forward.

"Um… sorry, Hamdon," Wackerman said. "But we've got orders. To arrest SheZow. We'll be gentle, promise. You know, as long as he doesn't beat us up."

Boxter rolled his eyes, then glanced back at Guy. The look carried a warning. "He won't."

What did his father think he was going to do? "Of course I'm not going to hurt them! I just don't want to go."

"You're not serious, Boxter?" said Droosha. "You're not going to let them take him."

"I don't think we have much choice."

"Well, our son is SheZow…"

"Please don't tell me you're suggesting he use his powers to…"

"I'm standing right here!" Guy shouted. Everyone shut up. Finally. "Don't you think it's up to me whether I go or not? What are you arresting me for anyway? I help you guys!"

"Destruction of public property, evading arrest, unpaid parking fines…" Wackerman started.

"Alright, we get it," Boxter growled.

Guy rolled his eyes.

"Guy," said Boxter, "this is going to be a lot easier if you just go with them down to the station."

Perhaps it was time to try it Dad's way and see what happened. "Alright, I'll go."

"Fine," said Droosha. "But I'm going with him."

"No, I'll go with him," said Boxter.

"You're basically one of them, Boxter!"

"I didn't start this whole mess! Don't you think you've caused enough trouble already?!" Boxter barked.

Guy flinched. His father rarely shouted at Mom. Mom was more likely to shout at him. In fact, Boxter almost looked like he'd startled himself.

"Fine," Droosha pushed past him and stopped by Guy. Then she hugged him, pressing closely against his ear. "Look, I know you don't want to talk to me," she said quietly. "But be careful. If things get bad, you run, alright?"

"Okay." What did she think would go wrong? Dad was with him. Not that they were seeing eye to eye right now. Though Dad had tried to be nice to him last night, Guy knew he was still upset. He felt his stomach churn. And despite everything he'd told Kelly, he knew that was his fault.

"Hamdon," Wackerman was saying, "you know you can't really be involved in this."

"I'm not going as a cop, am I?" Boxter took off his police cap and shoved it at Wackerman. "There. So tell admin I'm taking a family day." He turned around. "Come on, Guy."

Guy followed his father out. Something told him this was not a typical arrest. Not a single one of the other cops touched him. He wasn't sure if that was because they were scared of what he could do as SheZow, or if the death glares his father was giving every single one of his colleagues kept them at bay.

Boxter opened the back door of a cop car, ushered him in, and then slid in next to him. They didn't say a single word to each other all the way to the station.

* * *

Boxter wasn't used to being on the other end of an interrogation. Hell, he wasn't used to being on any end of an interrogation. It was hardly something an officer had the clout to be in on. But he wasn't going to let Guy face this alone.

"Dad, settle down."

Boxter had paced the room about a dozen times. A small room with a desk and a couple of chairs bolted to the floor. "What's taking so long?" he growled. They'd been dumped in the room and left alone.

Guy slouched in one of the chairs. He looked bored. Some of the tension left Boxer's shoulders. Maybe he didn't need to worry about Guy getting scared. Or maybe his son's lack of concern was exactly the reason he needed to be here.

"You can say it, you know," said Guy, dropping his gaze to the floor under his father's stare.

"What?"

"I told you so."

"Believe it or not I'm not finding this fun in the slightest."

"I know," Guy admitted with a sigh. "But I mean, what are they going to do to me? I'm SheZow."

"You think being SheZow means you're above the law? It doesn't work that way, Guy."

"Yeah, well it should. I'm helping the city then they find out I'm a guy and suddenly everyone loses their minds!" He threw his hands in the air. "It's Shediculous!"

"I know what happened yesterday sucks, but this has nothing to do with that. You've been breaking property for months. That's why you're here. Revealing your identity just let them know who to send the bill to." Boxter shook his head. "They're moving bloody quickly too; I wouldn't be surprised if Mayor Stanley had something to do with this."

"Yeah, well, if they're going to try and put me in a cell they've got another think coming."

Boxter tensed. Droosha might be able to push him around, but he wasn't going to let his son behave like this. "Alright, that's enough, Guy! You did the wrong thing and now you've got to deal with it. I didn't raise my son to think he can behave how he likes just 'cause he's got superpowers."

"Hey, I'm doing what no one else can do. They should thank me not arrest me."

Boxter had put up with SheZow for too long. He'd had enough. "So what're you going to do about it, huh? If they decide to arrest you? You going to fight your way out of here? These aren't villains, Guy. They're men and women who put their lives on the line for the safety of this city. All without superpowers and special rings and ridiculous suits! What makes you think you get to walk all over them and push them around? I don't care what get up SheZow gets around in, or what gender she is! I just can't deal with someone who flouts the system and walks all over the people who've put in the hard yards. Heck, you can get tacky rings like that in the bottom of a cereal box! So stop behaving like you're queen of the world."

Guy was silent for a long moment, staring at his father wide eyed. "I wasn't going to… I wouldn't hurt anyone to get out of here."

"You've already hurt me." Boxter swallowed hard. "And it's too late to take that back."

"Yeah?" Guy's voice cracked. "And you're so perfect? What was with the Mustang? I'm twelve, and I know that's irresponsible."

"Don't talk back to me! Everything that's happened because of this is your fault! Not mine!"

Guy swallowed hard and looked down at the floor. That last statement hung in the air.

The door behind him cracked open; Wackerman stuck his head in. "Hey, you might want to get out here for a second, Hamdon."

His partner probably hadn't heard his last words but Boxter still felt a wash of shame. Which was a pretty good indication saying something like that to his son was completely out of line.

"Guy?" But Guy wouldn't look at him. Boxter swallowed hard. He was here to help his son, not tear him down. He should've let Droosha come instead. "I'll… I'll come back in a minute, son," he said, as softly as he could whilst still being heard. Not that it'd make up for what he'd just said. "Just sit tight."

Wackerman led him down the hall through the station; Boxter could feel him eying him. "You alright, man?"

"No," Boxter growled. "I feel like the worse parent ever…" Except perhaps for Droosha. "So what's going on? You drag my son out of the house and now you're all taking forever."

Raised voices were coming from the front of the station. They walked on out to find the representatives of the Superhero Action Guild in person, looking like they were about to nuke the place. Must be where Guy got it from. Stomping around like they owned the place.

Uma Thermal even had a good old ball of flame built up. Captain XL was nervously wringing his hands; maybe he realised things were getting out of hand. The rest of the officers on site all looked scared out of their wits. They'd dealt with enough superheroes for one day.

As if things couldn't get any worse. "Oh, wonderful!" Boxter snapped. "You here to bust my son out or something? Can't say I'm thrilled." He had no problem taking his anger out on these guys. Better them than his own family.

Uma Thermal turned on him and stomped over. Boxter felt a twinge of fear but he was still too amped up to back down.

She turned off the fireball when she made it to him. The heat still radiated off of her. "Finally," she growled. "One of you with some balls. And no, since you asked. We're not here to bust out your son. SheZow's violated some very serious Guild rules. She's revealed her identity. There are steps that need to be taken to ensure she doesn't compromise the Guild further."

"He," Boxter growled, "just in case you hadn't been paying attention. And you can't just waltz in here and take him. He's in police custody."

"He," Uma rolled her eyes, "Okay, he's in police custody. But he's also a member of the Guild, so…"

"Guild. The Law," Boxter growled. "You're bound by both. But no one here gives a damn about your Guild, so you can bloody well wait."

Uma scowled. "You're real lucky I like people who aren't scared of me, buddy."

"Yeah, well believe it or not you're not the scariest person I've had an argument with this week."

The fireball flared up again. Boxter took a step back. He knew he'd been pushing it.

"Alright," said Captain XL, stepping between them, "I'm sure we can all work this out. There's no need to…"

A sudden rush of air filled the station, blew stacks of paper off the surrounding desks, and left the glass front door swinging wildly on its hinges.

"Damn it." Boxter dashed back to the interview room. Guy was gone. The door there was wide open.

Wackerman appeared behind him. "I was sure I locked that."

"You did." Boxter held up the shattered remains of the lock from the floor. He pulled something out of the mangled housing. A five dollar bill was stuffed into the broken mechanism. Well, it looked like Guy had been listening, but a lock cost a lot more than five dollars. Boxter sighed and dropped the remains back to the ground. A commotion had again broken out in the front office.

* * *

 **A/n:** Yeah, Boxter's pretty stressed out right now. And I haven't even started. XD Yes, Guy's being a bit of a butt. Please review!


	9. Chapter 9

**A/n:** I'm just going to leave this here...

* * *

Guy arrived home shortly after going to the station with Boxter. Droosha strongly suspected he'd taken her advice, and run off. But she didn't ask.

"I'm going to go talk to Sheila," Guy had told her, when he came in. "I'll just get us all in trouble if I stay here. And I can't… I'm going to get her to move us to the moon, okay?"

Droosha really hadn't thought he was asking for permission. But he was still telling her, despite all she'd done to him. "Of course," she'd said. "I understand. But, sweetie, if you need to talk…"

"No Mom." And then he'd disappeared down into the she-lair.

She just wanted them to talk. Properly. So they could work out what had happened. She just wanted to tell him she wouldn't have convinced him to reveal his identity if she thought he didn't want to. But was that even true? Droosha had never intended to hurt her son. She just had to figure out how to tell him that.

But Guy stayed down there all day, and she wasn't game to go down after him. Not to have him say he didn't want to talk again.

Boxter finally came home, hours later. Hell, it was nearly dark. What had taken him so long? Droosha rolled her eyes as she heard the front door slam. She may have misjudged with Guy but at least she wasn't behaving like Boxter. It was like everything that had happened was about him, and not his son. And in the middle of everything to go and buy a car after complaining about SheZow breaking things? Really?

She was in the kitchen, doing dishes, when Boxter walked in. So he'd stopped hiding around the house from her? Great. She kept her attention on the sink. Maybe he'd go away.

"Did you check the mail?" he finally asked.

Droosha sighed and turned around, drying her hands on a tea towel. "No."

Boxter stiffly held out a letter to her. "Yeah, well I did. Take one guess what you think this is?"

Droosha took the letter. Return address was for Mayor Stanley's solicitors. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I know just what to do with this…"

"Can they even make us pay for…" Boxter trailed off.

Because Droosha had ripped the letter up into a half dozen pieces and dropped them on the counter top. "There."

Boxter stared at them for a moment and then scowled. "You realises that solves nothing, right?"

Droosha just shrugged. "They'll have to write us another one, won't they?"

Boxter rubbed at the bridge of his nose and let out a tired sigh. "Where's Guy anyway?"

Droosha folded her arms.

"Don't act like you don't know."

"Is this my husband asking, or the cop?"

"Guy's dad is asking, or don't I get any say in it?!" Boxter snapped.

"He's in his she-lair. Where do you think?"

"Wonderful," Boxter huffed. "Our son is hiding from the law right under our house."

"What are you going to do, turn him in?"

"Of course not! I'm just… Droosha, I…" Boxter sunk into one of the kitchen table chairs. "I've been at the station the whole day. I've basically been interrogated by my own colleagues about where my son went. And I've had to deal with the bloody Superhero Action Guild on top of it, and they don't mind throwing their weight around…"

Here we go again. "This is not about you."

"Yeah, thanks hun. But what I was going to say was that at least I had to go though that, and not Guy. Don't you think I could've told any of them to check out his she-lair if I'd wanted?"

Droosha paused. "So why'd you go and buy that silly car? How was that about Guy?"

"I…" Boxter huffed. "Yeah, that wasn't about Guy, but…"

Droosha rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm sorry your son embarrasses you so much. So what? He's SheZow. You need to stop treating him like some sort of freak."

"It's not my son who did this!" Boxter burst out. "He's a kid, Droosha. You did this! He had no idea what he was in for! He's been hassled and arrested and you're the one who threw him into the middle of it all!"

Droosha felt tears prick the back of her eyes. "You don't think I know that?" She sniffed and turned back to the dishes. Damn it all, because that he was right about. She hadn't realised when she'd thrown the party. But as soon as Guy had flown into his room mid-panic attack, she'd known. If she could take it all back, she would. "But it doesn't matter. It won't matter soon. Guy told me he's got Sheila to arrange for our passage to the moon within the week, the cops will never find Guy before then…"

"The moon in a week?! Kelly doesn't even want to go! I don't want to go! I've got a job, I've got friends… we haven't even had the time to discuss this…" Boxter's voice was rising in volume, and then she heard him stand to his feet. "But, no, we don't discuss things anymore, do we? You just make decisions without me!"

Droosha spun back around. "Guy got arrested, Boxter. And you just let it happen. We don't have time to discuss…"

"I know! I was there! But I don't want to go to the moon, Droosha!" He swallowed hard. He stomped into the kitchen behind her. "We are not going to the moon!"

Did he really think that would work? Droosha folded her arms. "Sorry Boxter, you already got back at me with the Mustang. You know I don't take orders."

Boxter held her glare for a brief moment, then his shoulders slumped and he looked down at the floor. "I am so over this. Don't you get it? I thought I'd married someone who I could trust, who would talk to me about things, so we could do things as a team. But I had no choice about what happened this weekend. I walked in and the decision was already made for me. I could've stopped him getting arrested and everything that's happened right there and then if you'd let me! You basically decided to move the whole family to the moon and I had no say!"

"I thought it was the right thing then, and…"

"If I'd done something like that to you you'd have been all over me! Told me I was being domineering, or something. But it goes both ways you know! Don't you think something like that would hurt me too?

"So sorry if I got stupid and bought a stupid sports car, which I don't even like anymore! I can't talk to you. I'm just supposed to 'deal with it'." He chest was heaving, his fists tense at his side. It may not have been obvious to anyone else, but Droosha suddenly realised her husband was only barely holding himself together.

"Boxter…"

"I want to protect my son. I want to protect both my kids. And I had no chance to! Well, I'm doing what I can now." He sniffed and drew himself up. "So, I am not going to the moon."

Droosha reached out a hand to touch him, but then drew it back. She could almost see him shaking. "Sweetheart, I… you know Guy can't stay here."

"Then you take him to the moon. You've already stuffed it up for him, haven't you?"

It hit her then. Exactly what he was saying. "You want to stay here? While we go."

"No. But I… right now I can't deal with you… so that's really my only option, isn't it?" He turned away. Headed to the kitchen counter and picked up his keys.

"Boxter…"

He paused.

"Don't go."

Boxter didn't look at her. Just headed out of the kitchen. "Kelly!" he shouted upstairs, his voice hoarse. Then Droosha heard the front door slam.

Kelly came downstairs moments later, looking around with a confused expression on her face.

Droosha wondered if she'd been listening nearby. She hoped not.

"Where's Dad?"

"Outside…" Droosha pointed to the front door. Somehow she managed to remain calm, like it hadn't really sunk in.

Kelly slipped out of the door and left her alone.

Droosha turned back around and leaned heavily on the edge of the sink.

* * *

Boxter started up the Mustang. The beefy roar punched into the night air. Solid and strong. Maybe Droosha had been right. He'd got the stupid thing because he felt so weak and useless. He was compensating. And now he was running away. What choice did he have? Still, he wouldn't let it accomplish nothing.

The passenger door clicked and Kelly slipped in beside him. "Dad," she took one look at him and then put her arms around him. "You okay?"

Boxter sagged and held onto her for a long moment. "No. Did you hear any of that?"

Kelly pulled away and shook her head. "Well, not much. I was trying not to. Just you calling me."

"Okay," Boxter drew in a breath. "Look, sweetheart, I know this whole thing sucks. And you've just been quiet through it all and trying to help where you can…"

"Well, I can't say I did much good."

He smiled at her faintly. "Well, you bought me breakfast. And went with me to get this car."

"Tried to talk you out of it too."

"Yeah, I know. But you did tell me you didn't want to go to the moon."

Kelly sighed and sunk into her seat. "No, Dad, I don't. I tried to talk Guy and Mom out of it, but…"

"That's not your fault. But you don't have to go to the moon."

Kelly sat up straighter. "What? But Guy revealed his identity. He's got to; it's part of the Guild rules."

"Mom's going to take him to the moon. You can check, but I'm pretty certain there's nothing in there about the rest of his family being obligated to go. And if there is," he drew in breath. "I can fix that too."

"Huh?"

"I'm not going to the moon. It's up to you, but you don't have to either. I couldn't do anything to help Guy, but that doesn't mean…"

"Wait, you're asking me to stay here?"

"That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"No! I mean… not without Guy and Mom! Dad…" Her eyes filled with tears. "Don't make me do this!"

"Kelly," Boxter grasped her arm. "I'm not making you do anything. It's up to you…"

"You're making me choose between you, and Guy and Mom!" She pulled away from him. "I put up with you buying the car and everything. That was just silly, I didn't mind. But… Dad, you can't… I can't…" She burst into tears and scrambled out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

Boxter watched her run back into the house and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. What was he doing? Almost automatically, he put the car into gear and pulled off, scraping the gear box horribly between first and second. What the hell was he doing?

Asking Kelly to leave with him. Splitting their family right down the middle. Droosha hadn't made him do anything. This was his choice. He was abandoning them. And he'd promised himself he'd never, ever be that dad.


	10. Chapter 10

Guy wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He'd already told Sheila to arrange passage. What now? Wait? He'd told Maz he could come back to Megadale to visit, but he wasn't even sure of that now. Wasn't even sure he wanted to come back if he had to put up with people like Brian Smirk. And did you get social media on the moon? He hadn't been game to look, but he wasn't sure he wanted to look at that either. It was ten times easier to say something ten times worse about a crossdressing superhero when you could hide behind your computer screen.

Guy groaned and put his head into his hands. He sat in front of Sheila as she worked away silently in the background. She really was the safest company at the moment. Guy was fairly certain she wasn't happy about him revealing his identity but at least she wasn't making his life hell in response.

There was the sound of footsteps. Guy drew in a breath and raised his head. It was his mother. "Mom," he pulled himself out of his slouch, "I still don't want to talk, okay?"

Droosha came and gave him a hug. Guy squeezed her back. Like, just because he didn't want to talk didn't mean a hug didn't help.

"I know, sweetie. I didn't come to bug you; we can talk later. I need to talk to Sheila."

Sheila's screen came to life, and the computer let out a sigh. "What is it now? I'm a little busy."

Guy expected his mother to snap at Sheila's tone; she rarely tolerated that sort of thing. But instead she got straight down to business. "You've got access to all the city's cameras, right? You can track vehicles?"

"I can."

"I need to track my husband's Mustang. You find him you send me a text, he stops somewhere you tell… I need to know where he is…" His mother's words came out a rush.

Sheila picked up on the urgency in her voice. "Of course. Why, what's happened?"

Guy stood to his feet. "Yeah, is Dad okay?"

"Yes and no," Droosha winced. "We had an argument. And he took off in the Mustang. He said… he said he wasn't coming with us to the moon."

Guy felt his stomach drop. He opened his mouth, but his throat was dry. He could think of nothing to say. Of course Dad was mad at him. But he hadn't realised… would he actually leave them because of what his son had done to him?

"Of course, sweetheart," said Sheila, all aggression gone from her voice. "You want to know he's okay."

"Not just that, but… Sheila, he doesn't mean it. He just doesn't want to go to the moon. Everything's been tossed at him so fast. I need to do something now before things get even further out of hand. I should've seen it before, but I just couldn't…" She shook her head and wiped at the corner of her eye. "I don't just need to know he's okay. I need to go and get him."

"Go," said Sheila. "I'll locate him and load a tracking app to your phone."

Droosha drew herself up and nodded. She gave Guy one last brief look, but it was obvious her focus was elsewhere. She rushed out of the she-lair.

Guy stared after her for a moment and then looked to Sheila. The computer was busy, humming away as she did what Droosha had asked. He had to do something. This was his fault. He gritted his teeth and ran after his mother. When he got up into the house he heard the screech of her own car pulling away. Too late.

"I hope you're real proud of yourself."

Guy turned to find Kelly sitting on the stairs. Her eyes were red. "Huh… um… are you okay?"

"Of course I'm not okay!" Kelly snapped, standing to her feet.

"Well, what happened? You were up here, did you hear what…"

"Yeah, I was up here! Not hiding out in the stupid she-lair! What do you think happened? You revealed you identity, Guy! I tried to stop you, but no, you had to do it your own way, as usual! And now he's gone…"

"Kelly," Guy began, but he could hear his own voice shaking, "He might not have, Mom said…"

"I don't care what Mom said; she's just as bad as you! I'll tell you what Dad said: he doesn't want to go to the moon. Neither do I. So he asked me… he asked me to stay with him," she sniffed and drew in a breath. "Do you think he would've done that if he wasn't serious about leaving? He's had it and I'm not far behind. If I didn't have to put up with him I'd probably stay too. But trust me, he was serious."

Guy swallowed hard. "So you're…"

"I don't know what I'm doing, Guy. I'm pretty sure what Dad's doing though. And Mom's not going to be able to stop him. And that's your fault. I'm going to bed."

"Kelly, wait…"

She turned and rushed up the stairs. Seconds later her bedroom door slammed.

Guy stood alone in the bottom of the house, and hugged himself. Then he made his way back down to the she-lair and sunk into the chair in front of Sheila.

Dad had run away because of him. Mom was going after him but that didn't mean he was coming back. I mean, what had he expected? That his Dad could commute from the moon? SheZow would break up his whole family, all because Guy had decided to reveal his identity. He leaned on Sheila's console, put his head on his folded arms and a sob shook his body.

"Sweetheart," Sheila said, humming to life, "it'll be okay. Your Mom will bring him back."

Guy lifted his head and wiped at his eyes. "Maybe. But is he going to stay? I stuffed everything up."

"Whatever may have happened between your mother and father wasn't your fault…"

"Sheila! I'm SheZow! I revealed my identity! Of course everything is my fault! I just… there's got to be something I can do to fix this…" He was still struggling against tears but his mind was already churning. Moving to the moon was the problem. At least the one that had pushed Dad off the edge. That's what Mom had said. "Do we really have to go to the moon, Sheila?"

"I'm afraid it's part of the conditions of your membership with the Guild, Guy. You? Yes, you have to go the moon." She sighed. "So your father would be right in thinking if he left that he could stay but that doesn't mean…"

Guy pushed away the last of his tears, forced himself to concentrate as he stared down at the console. "And then Mom's still going to come to the moon with me…Wait, what if I quit the Guild?"

Sheila paused. "No."

There was a glimmer of hope. "Ha! You hesitated! There's a way my family doesn't have to go the moon, isn't there?"

"It's not…"

"Sheila!"

Sheila sighed. "Yes, you could leave the Guild. But this would mean you would no longer be classed as a superhero."

"So?" Guy shrugged. "What does the Guild do for me anyway?"

"Guy, you're not listening. You won't be a superhero. There's no middle ground. As far as the Guild is concerned, if you're not a member, you're a villain. And they'll treat you as one."

"That's shediculous! Even if I'm still helping people…"

"Yes," Sheila cut him short. "Even if you're still helping people. It's silly, I know. But it certainly helps them maintain membership levels."

"But it means I won't have the move to the moon, doesn't it? And my family…"

"Won't have to move to the moon," Sheila finished for him. "The Guild may come after you though. Especially if you continue to go around claiming you're a superhero without their blessing. And that might hurt your family, should the Guild come looking for you here."

Guy groaned and rubbed at his eyes. He could feel tears threatening again. He was hemmed in at every side. But this was his fault; he still had to fix it. "So what if I'm not here? What if I decide to run away?"

"Sweetheart," Sheila sighed. "I thought that's what you were trying to avoid; splitting up your family."

"Yeah, but Mom and Dad and Kelly will still be together, won't they?" He drew in a breath. "Do it, Sheila. You can, right? Cancel my membership with the Guild?"

"I can. Your family won't have to go to the moon. It may even make if difficult to pin damages on your family… seeing as you won't be living under their roof anymore."

Hearing Sheila say it like that just made it all the more real. Guy drew in a sharp breath and wiped away the tears that sprung to his eyes.

"Oh Guy, I'm sorry, but that's what you're doing. If I do this you have to know exactly what you're in for. I'm here to protect and guide you, and I'm telling you right now doing this will put you in personal danger. It'll make it very difficult for you to see your family, if you want to keep them out of danger. But I will do this for you, so long as I know that you know what you're doing."

"Sheila," despite everything, Guy smiled faintly. "How did I manage to get a computer like you?"

"You put on a mysterious artefact you found in your reclusive great aunt's basement, without any regard for the consequences."

"Heh… yeah, that's right."

"So do you know what you're doing?"

Guy drew himself up. "I'm protecting my family, Sheila. As far as my own personal safety is concerned, blow the consequences. I'll figure it out, I always do."

"There's the Guy I know," she smiled. "I suppose that will do. I'll need to go into sleep mode. If you don't want your parents or Kelly finding out where you are…"

"But Sheila!"

"My heart may be made of silicone, but if they come down here and ask me where you are, I can't promise I won't give you away. But if you need me for anything, you come back here and reactivate me, got it?"

Guy drew in a breath. "Okay, Sheila, I get it. So yeah, do it. Cancel the membership. I'll… I guess I'll go pack."


	11. Chapter 11

Boxter sat parked at the side of the highway, the rush of traffic passing by background noise to his thoughts. He hadn't driven far. With each mile the gravity of what he'd done sunk upon him until he felt if he drove a single mile more it would crush him. But neither could he find the strength to go back.

All he could think of was the look on his daughter's face… Boxter drew in a breath and shuddered. He gripped the steering wheel tight and let his head rest against the leather binding it. Tears stung his eyes. What was wrong with him?

Droosha had been right; he'd been thinking of no one but himself. He'd hurt his family more than she had, even though she'd been the one to reveal Guy's identity. And now here he was alone.

"Just me and a Mustang," he said, his voice hoarse. He opened his eyes to the brightly glowing dash. "Every man's dream…" he choked off. "I hate this bloody car."

There was a tap on the window. Boxter started. If it was a cop… the last thing he needed was one of his buddies to see him here like this. But the passenger door clicked open and the last person he expected to see stood there.

"Droosha?"

She slipped into the passenger seat, slamming the door behind her. "You can't just bail like that, sweetheart. Even if you didn't mean it."

"How'd you know where to…" Boxter stammered. Then his shoulders slumped. Of course she was right. But it was the fact she knew he'd made a mistake, that he couldn't really leave, that hit him the most. He winced. "I know. I'm sorry."

Droosha grasped his arm. "But I understand why you did. I've been horrible to you. I'm sorry. I should have told you about Guy first. Instead of telling the whole town, and then pushing you around when I knew I'd hurt you and I should have been apologising."

Boxter closed his eyes briefly.

"Sweetheart?"

"Thank you." Boxter turned and drew her into her arms, squeezing her tight.

Droosha squeezed him back, then: "Boxter…"

"I just… give me a minute…" A hug sure felt a lot better than all the fighting.

"Okay," said Droosha, "but just so you know I think I'm sitting on the stick."

Despite everything, Boxter felt a smile tug at his lips. "Sure it's the stick? Maybe I'm just happy to see you…"

Droosha snorted and slipped off him, back into the passenger seat. "If you expect comments like that to get you anywhere, you should've got a sports car with bench seats."

The brief moment of banter was enough to relax him. Despite everything, the things he'd said, they were still okay. They were in a pretty rough patch but it wasn't the end of everything.

"So…" Droosha was watching him carefully, searching his eyes. "You forgive me?"

Boxter shrugged and smiled faintly. "Yeah, guess I have to."

"You don't have to do anything, sweetheart. I've been horrible to you."

"You came to get me even though I was being an idiot. You didn't have to do that. Even if you hurt me, it was my stupid choice to leave."

Droosha just shrugged. "Well one of us had to make the first move."

Oh, man. How had he ended up with someone like her? "Droosha, you have no idea how much I needed you to come and get me right now…" Boxter reached over and squeezed her hand. "And it's not like you're the only one who's been behaving like a jerk."

"You could do worse things than buy a Mustang. You can return it, right?"

"Yeah, I can. I only paid for a month on the lease and they'll make me take it back after that." He sighed. "I'm not stupid. I know we can't afford a sports car. But that's not what I meant. I…" he trailed of and squeezed his eyes shut. But it did nothing to vanquish the image that had sprung to his mind's eye.

"What, Boxter?"

"You know, I was so mad at you for what you dragged Guy into. I didn't understand how you could do something like that. But I've hurt the kids even worse. At least when you threw that party you were doing what you thought was best for Guy. You know what I did? Kelly didn't want to go to the moon, so I asked her I… I asked Kelly to come with me. Right before I left. What kind of father would do that? I wasn't doing that for her. I just didn't want to be by myself. And I was supposed to be there for Guy at the station. All I did was tell him everything was his fault." He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the steering wheel tight. "And then I got in this car and left. I know that was stupid now. But for one moment there I'd actually decided I was leaving."

"Boxter, you got three miles up the road. I don't think you would've left. We get stupid, we say stupid things, but we sort ourselves out in the end, right?"

Boxter shrugged. "Or we sort each other out."

"Yeah, that too." Droosha was quiet for a long moment. "Guess we've both been pretty lousy parents, huh?"

"Yeah." Boxter leaned back in the seat and sighed. "I'm still a bit mad at you though. You took everything I could've done to stop this happening away before I had the chance to do anything."

"I know. And I'm still mad about how you've been treating Guy. There's nothing wrong with what he does, even if it does lack a little tact."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I've got to work on that."

"But I'm guessing you're thinking that, despite all that, we need to suck it up and do whatever we can to sort this out for the kids."

Boxter smiled faintly. It didn't take much for them to get back on the same wavelength. "Well we do a pretty awful job when we go it it alone, don't we?"

"This is a mess, Boxter. That's not entirely our fault either. But it's still our job to fix it."

"You ready to talk then? I mean, talk like we both get some say in all this?"

Droosha reached up and cupped his cheek in one hand. "Yeah. I'm sorry, sweetheart. You know even when I get it wrong I still love you, right?"

Boxter smiled back. "Love you too."

* * *

Kelly woke and made her way downstairs in a daze. What she would have liked was to stay in bed all day. But she could smell coffee. Mom must've been cooking something, and she was hungry. But when she got downstairs, there was no breakfast cooked in an effort to forget a husband leaving. What there was was freshly brewed coffee on the kitchen table, as well as a half dozen half empty coffee cups. And her mother and father, sitting together at the kitchen table, talking. She froze like a deer in the headlights.

It only took a second for them to spot her. Her father got straight to his feet. "Kelly…" He came over and got right down on his knees in front of her, like he used to when she was little. Only now she was tall enough to be a good head above him. He reached up and grasped her shoulder. "I'm so sorry about last night. I had no right to spring a question like that on you. I've been talking to Mom and… look, I'm not going anywhere, alright? Not now, not ever. You don't have to worry about anything like that, we're going to work it out. I'm so sorry, sweetie…"

Kelly threw her arms around his neck. "Dad, it's okay." She swallowed and buried her face in his shoulder.

Boxter held onto her tight. He didn't let go until she pulled away, wiping at her eyes. She'd been so sure he was going and he'd just blasted away any fear of that with just a few words.

He stood back to his feet. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Kelly sniffed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. "So you're…" She looked between the both of them. "What happened?"

"We figured we're a lot stronger when we're fighting together, instead of against each other." Droosha came and stood next to Boxter, brushing against his arm. Though not quite as close as they usually stood.

"Look, we're your Mom and Dad," said Boxter. "We're responsible for making sure nothing breaks up this family. Not you two. But we are in way over our heads with this whole superhero business, so we really need you guys to help too."

"We need to sit down and figure out how we're going to beat this," said Droosha. "Do you know if Guy's up yet?"

Kelly still couldn't quite get her head around what had happened. But it could only be good. "Um… I don't think so. His door's still closed."

"I'll go wake him up," said Droosha. She headed upstairs.

Boxter smiled sheepishly at Kelly. "We're okay, huh, Kelly?"

She was finally finding herself catching on. Things were going to be okay. "Yeah, Dad. We're okay."

"Boxter!" Mom's voice rang out from upstairs.

The smile fell from Dad's face. He gave Kelly a look and then ran upstairs. "What's wrong?"

Kelly followed him. What had Guy done now? Her irritation was having a hard time winning out though. Something in her mother's voice…

She came into Guy's bedroom last. Guy wasn't there. Just Mom and Dad. Mom holding a piece of paper, one hand to her mouth. She started to cry.

Boxter took the paper from her and his eyes roved over it as he silently took in its contents.

"What is it?" Kelly asked. "Where's Guy?"

Dad looked up, and though his face appeared expressionless he couldn't seem to say anything.

It was Mom who replied, even through her tears. "Kelly, your brother's run away."

* * *

 **A/n:** Congrats on getting your sh*t together Boxter and Droosha, but it would've helped if you'd done it, like, six hours ago. XD Dammit, they're still adorable...


	12. Chapter 12

_Two weeks later._

Boxter sat in the police cruiser and drummed his fingers restlessly against the steering wheel. Wackerman was inside the nearby coffee shop, getting coffee. Boxter found himself increasingly less keen to get out of the car if he could avoid it. I mean, it was one thing to have the weekly grandmas knitting club giggling and pretty obviously checking them out from behind. Another entirely to have any and everybody whispering about how any father could allow his son to be SheZow. He'd been right on the verge of pegging a full cup of coffee at one lady talking about it way too loudly just last week, until Wackerman had grabbed him by the shoulder and steered him out. His partner had made a point of offering to go and retrieve the snacks every time after that, and Boxter had not been ungrateful.

What the hell was Guy even doing now? He should have been in school. Boxter squeezed his eyes shut briefly. He'd thought it couldn't get any worse. Until they'd found that note in their son's bedroom. Now he didn't know where Guy was for days at a time. I mean, sure, sometimes teenagers ran off and did stupid things. He was a cop, he was more than aware that happened. At times the cops had to go retrieve them, arrest them, God forbid, scrape them up out of the gutter. He knew he wasn't alone in the sickening feeling that had taken a constant hold of his gut. And Guy was only twelve.

"Here…" The passenger door clicked open and Wackerman slid in next to him, passing him a cup of coffee.

Boxter cleared his throat. "Thanks." He took it and sculled half its contents, then choked as it hit his stomach. He probably shouldn't be drinking so much of the stuff. He was almost certain he was getting an ulcer as it was.

"You alright, man?" Wackerman had been asking him that so much recently, it was staring to get annoying. But Boxter didn't have the heart to snap at him; he was only trying to help.

"Yeah." Boxter dropped the cup in the cup holder, put the car in gear and pulled out.

His head wasn't quite there for work but he couldn't just sit at home waiting to hear from Guy. Or see SheZow on the news. He had Wackerman there to keep him steady. That's what partners were for. He'd probably never work up the guts to say it to him but he'd been the only reason Boxter hadn't worried he'd be too compromised to do his job.

The radio crackled to life. "Unit 252, come in." Wackerman grabbed at the handset but before he could confirm the caller dropped all radio protocol and said in rush: "Hamdon, get your arse down to the pier. Your son's here kicking the crap out of Mocktopus but I don't think he's going to hang around."

"Roger that. We're on our way," said Wackerman, pressed up against the passenger window as a result of the sudden left hand turn Boxter'd thrown to the blare of horns.

And that was the other reason he kept forcing himself to come to work. It was the only place he ever got to see Guy.

They weren't far from the pier. Boxter navigated the curbing, climbing up onto the footpath with a whoop of the car's siren. He slowed, but only enough to avoid hitting anything, or anyone. Halfway up the pier he pulled the handbrake. Mocktopus was flinging fish at something. SheZow. He was still there. Boxter felt a wash of relief flood his system.

The last two times his colleagues had sent him a frantic message as to Guy's whereabouts, he'd been too late. For an organisation which definitely tended towards the masculine, they had proved more than more than willing to do everything they could to get him back in contact with his son. Even if they were supposed to arrest SheZow, and even if he was some boy running around saving the world in a dress.

Boxter stepped out of the cop car.

"Go on," said Wackerman. "I'll make sure the media don't get down here."

Boxter made his way down the pier, as fast as he dared with an overgrown tentacle monster flailing around.

"You're going down, Mocktopus!" SheZow shouted. Looked like he'd dodged that fish attack.

"Oh, I'm so scared!" said Mocktopus, flailing his tentacles. Then he squealed like he was so scared, because SheZow grabbed him by a tentacle and started swinging him about.

"Oh, bugger." Boxter growled as he saw his son line up his trajectory. Mocktopus sailed clear over Boxter's head, screaming. He sailed over the top of the cop car, thank God, and then splatted down on the edge of the pier only feet away from Wackerman.

Wackerman stood wide eyed as Mocktopus struggled upright.

"Whoa, dizzy…" Mocktopus slipped off the edge of the pier and back into the water.

Boxter turned back around. Guy spotted him, tensed, and gave his father the look almost every criminal got when they knew they'd been caught and were weighing up the wisdom of bolting.

"Guy, wait, don't go," Boxter held out his hands. His heart hammered in his chest. "Just wait."

Guy swallowed and looked about nervously. There was no one else this far out on the pier. The cop car and Wackerman more than ensured no one would get out here any time soon. He relaxed, if only a little. "Dad, I can't stay. It won't take the Guild long to figure out I'm here."

"Yeah, I know. But they're not here now. It's just me. So can we just…" It was the first time his son had hung around for more than a few seconds. It was what he'd been waiting for. But Boxter realised he hadn't even decided what he was going to say.

But he had to say something. "Why'd you run away, son? I know I was being stupid, but your Mom and I… we're working things out…"

Guy swallowed hard. "It's safer if I'm not around. Sorry, Dad, I…"

Boxter's fists tensed. "It's not safe for you. I don't care if you're a superhero. You're a kid, you don't get to run off just cause you want to. You're coming back home right now!"

"You ran away too."

"I know. And it was the stupidest thing I've every done. But you're Mom came and got me… and… what do you think I'm trying to do now?"

He was a fool to think it would work. He wasn't getting through. Guy just looked at his father sadly. "Sorry, Dad. I've got to protect you guys." And with that he shot up into the air and away.

Boxter took a half step forward before he realised he couldn't follow. "That's not your job," he said, his voice hoarse. His fists were so tense they hurt and he could feel tears pricking the back of his eyes.

Wackerman moved up beside him and then reached up and squeezed his shoulder hard. "Hey, you alright?"

"Don't touch me," Boxter jerked away. He drew in a breath and his shoulders sagged. "Sorry."

"It's okay. You need me to drive?"

Boxter took one last look at the sky. Guy was long gone. "Yeah."

* * *

Guy flew down to his makeshift accommodations. He'd found someplace secluded up amongst the pylons of the Megadale bridge. It wasn't exactly cosy. But it was dry. And he had to fly to get up there so he wasn't likely to get any uninvited guests. What it was was lonely. He only had Maz, on occasion, to keep him company. He figured seeing his best friend was safe. It was a far more difficult connection for any enemy to make between him and Maz, as opposed to any member of his family. He had to see someone.

Guy sighed and sunk down to the wad of blankets Maz had brought for him. Nestled among them was a bit of climbing gear, looped around one of the metal girders. I mean, the view from up here was fantastic. But he didn't want to risk rolling over too far in his sleep and toppling right off. There was water below but it'd still be a pretty rude awakening.

He watched the sun creep down towards the horizon for a few minutes, but even that did nothing to lighten his mood. His father had been right there. Guy hadn't realised how much he missed him until he saw him. Sure, he'd seen him around since he'd left home. They did tend to hang around the same, you know, crime scenes. But he always made sure to leave before they could have a conversation.

And yeah, Dad had sounded a little mad. Shouted at him. But overwhelmingly he had simply come across like he'd desperately wanted his son to come home. His father's mood had been more pathetic than scary.

With a sigh Guy stood to his feet and flew off. He'd done this a few times since running away, despite the danger he felt it posed to his family. But right now he needed it.

Guy set himself down silently outside his house, just as the sun was going down. Right on his family's dinner time. He stayed in the backyard for a few moments, letting his eyes adjust to the gathering darkness. And making sure no one was outside to spot him. That done, he snuck up to his dining room window and cautiously looked inside.

His family was sitting down to dinner. Dad was poking his food around his plate, staring at it silently and without much enthusiasm. Mom sat next to him, rubbing his arm and talking gently to him. Kelly was there too, picking at her food.

Guy sighed and sunk down from the window, hugging himself. He missed them so much. If he knew how to fix things so he could come home, he would. But he couldn't whilst the Superhero Action Guild was still looking for him. Not to mention the media. And the cops. Some of that heat might die down if he stopped fighting villains and rescuing people, but he couldn't help himself. I mean, he had powers! He couldn't just not help people because some stupid Guild decided he hadn't paid his dues.

"I thought I'd find you here eventually."

The voice brought Guy shooting to his feet. "SheZap?! Where are you?"

SheZap cackled, then materialised from one of the many shadows that were deepening across Guy's back lawn. "I thought I was good at hiding but you're sure giving me a run for my money. I've been here like three nights waiting for you to show your face. And here you are!"

Guy's fists tensed. "You've been hanging around? Here? Stay away from my family, SheZap!"

SheZap waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, I'm not going to hurt your family. They're kind of cute. Moping about, waiting for their beloved son to come home…"

"Shut up."

SheZap continued as if he'd said nothing. "No, I was looking for you, toots."

"Why?"

"I wanted to have a little chat. Woman to woman. Or, you know… whatever. I thought your little mistake was pretty funny at first but it's starting to make life difficult for me. I want to talk about that."

Guy's hands shook as he tried to steady his breathing. He needed to keep his head. The last thing he needed was to start a fight with SheZap in his own backyard. But if she wanted to talk, okay… that was okay. If she'd wanted to mess with his family she would've done it already. "Okay, we can talk. Toots. But not here."

SheZap shrugged. "Sure. Your place or mine?"

"Mine." SheZap would know where he was but Guy highly doubted she'd tell anyone. Besides, it was far better she come look for him there, rather than hanging around his family. "Follow me."

Guy shot into the air at full speed. SheZap could easily keep up. Back under the bridge, he landed. It was already dark. So he punched on the little battery operated lantern Maz had left him.

SheZap skidded in behind him and looked around. "Wow. Love what you've done with the place."

"Cut the crap," Guy sighed. "You wanted to talk?"

"Yeah." SheZap sat down and settled himself in, back against an upright steel girder. "You see, everyone now knows who I am. Whatever form I'm in. They keep saying really rude things."

Guy huffed and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well, I told you that would happen, didn't I?"

"Yeah, ya did. And I thought it was funny at first but now it's getting really annoying. Like, I used to be able to go to the movies, get a front row seat and make as much noise as I wanted, as you know, you… now everyone starts either making rude comments or asking for autographs as soon as I show my face. Either of them."

Guy frowned. "Is this a specific example? Because you can melt into shadows. You can probably sit up the back and no one would even know you're there. I can't do that so I don't know why you're whinging."

"Yeah, well I like sitting up the front and shouting at people not to go down the dark alley alone, alright?" SheZap huffed.

All the tenseness had left Guy by now. SheZap was away from his family and he didn't seem to want to do anything bar whinge. With a sigh Guy sunk down onto his wad of blankets. "Ok, fine, I get it. It's annoying. Believe me, if I could take back telling Megadale my identity, I would. I'm… sorry. But what do you expect me to do about it? I can't even sort out what I need to do to get back with my family."

SheZap smiled faintly. "Relax. I've got a plan. We'll be able to stop all those mooks from laughing at us. I don't really need your help. But I thought I'd give you the option. I mean, this has obviously messed up everything for you too."

"I'm doing fine on my own, thanks," Guy growled.

"Dude, you are living under a bridge. That's more suited to my colour, don't you think?"

Guy eyed him warily. "What did you have in mind?"

SheZap folded her arms, slouching even further against the girder. Guy was pretty sure her expression must have matched his own. "Don't know if I should tell you. I mean, you've got a nice streak of wanton chaos but its the goody-two-shoes in there I'm worried about."

"Just spit it out."

"I'm sick of Megadale. I bet you are too. So I'm thinking, let's get rid of the whole thing. We'll both be better off."

"What, Megadale?" A very bad feeling took hold of Guy's gut. "Like how? I mean…" he laughed. "We don't have the power to wipe out a whole city, you and I both know that."

SheZap gave him a wicked grin. "I've found something that does have the power to wipe out a whole city, toots. Right now it's harmless but with a little course correction… boom!"

Guy just stared at him.

SheZap watched his reaction and her grin faded. "Not what I was expecting. Come on, you love breaking things."

"By accident! Not on purpose!"

SheZap stood to her feet. "Looks like I misjudged you."

"No, wait," Guy stood up as well. "What are you planning on doing? What's this thing you need to redirect…"

SheZap folded her arms. "You must think I'm really stupid, huh?"

"Tell me!"

"Nuh-uh."

"You can't wipe out a whole city."

"Tell you what, I get you're worried about your family. And I mean, there's something about them that is a little… appealing. A tiny little bit of me might be a tiny bit sad if something happened to them. Get them out of Megadale before tomorrow evening." She winked. "And I'll take care of the rest of our problems. You won't have to get your pretty pink hands dirty at all."

Guy shot across the gap between them, grasped SheZap's collar in his fists and pinned her against the steel girder. "Tell me what you're going to do!"

SheZap grunted then let out a choked giggle. "Wow, you're rough when you're ready, huh? Do you really think I'm stupid enough to tell you my whole evil plan before I do it? I don't think so, sweetheart. But get your family out, then get yourself a good seat. This is going to be cataclysmic." She cackled again and Guy felt his grip loosen. Too late, he realised he'd pinned her in a darkened corner, unlit by the feeble lantern light. SheZap faded away into the girder's shadows.

"SheZap!"


	13. Chapter 13

Maz wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing. Guy was his best friend. And he'd asked him to keep quiet. But he spent so much time with the rest of the Hamdons it had been hell watching them stress over Guy's disappearance. He got why his friend had taken off. Totally. But a part of him couldn't understand how he could put his family through that.

So, despite Guy not being there, Maz was still visiting them. Even if Kelly kept bugging him about her brother's whereabouts. At least Guy had made an effort to visit his sister once or twice since his disappearance. Usually rocking up after school, and always on his timing, his terms. That sure had annoyed Kelly.

It wasn't even like they could ask Sheila. Her console in the she-lair had shut down completely, though there was that one little green light that kept blinking suspiciously. Maz was fairly certain that meant she was still running.

No, it looked like Maz was the only person Guy trusted enough to reveal his location to. Even so, he could only visit on Guy's terms. He needed a piggyback up to the high steel girders, so he had to let Guy know he was coming. Despite the vertigo the trip gave him, Maz was happy to be there.

But he still couldn't get Guy's family out of his head. Maz paused at the Hamdon's front door, frowning. Then he reached up and knocked. Maybe he'd have the guts today to give in and tell them he knew where Guy was. Probably not.

It was Mrs Hamdon who answered the door. Guy's father was probably still at work. Now that had to be hell. "Hey, Mrs H," Maz said, smiling sheepishly.

Droosha smiled back at him. "Hi, Maz."

"Guy hasn't shown his face yet, has he?" he asked. And felt like dirt because he knew exactly where Guy was. Jeesh, what kind of jerk was he?

Droosha sighed. "No, he hasn't. You want to come in for a bit? I've got something to give you."

"Um, yeah, sure." Maz followed her inside. Into the kitchen. Where Droosha handed him a huge plastic container filled with food. "Um… what's…"

Droosha smiled faintly. "It's lasagna."

Maz felt sorry for her. She must've been so stressed out about Guy she was coping by making heaps of food. "Look, Mrs H, I know I eat at your house all the time. But my parents do actually feed me."

"Maz, it's not for you."

"Huh?" Maz felt himself flush. He stared at the lasagna for way, way too long. Oh no. Guy was going to kill him. "I don't know what you mean…" he finally said.

Droosha folded her arms. "I know you know where Guy is, okay?"

Maz stared at her for a moment, then his shoulders slumped. "Mrs H, I'm so sorry. I was going to tell you. I swear. But he asked me not to. And I think it really, really would be dangerous for you guys. That's the only reason he's staying away you gotta believe me…"

Droosha held up her hands. "Maz, it's okay. I don't want you to tell me where he is."

Now he most certainly was confused. "You don't? But he's your son."

"Yeah, I know," Droosha sighed and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "And I actually do want to know… but I… I know he's only seeing you 'cause he thinks it won't put you in danger. If you tell me where he is, well, he'll probably move. And then he won't even want to see you." She smiled at him but there were tears in her eyes. "I just need to know he's okay. He's got someplace warm and dry?

Maz nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He let out a sigh. Suddenly, he could talk and it sure felt good. "I've been bringing him blankets, and snacks and stuff. But I can't cook, so I can't say he's been getting his five fruit and veg. Sorry."

"Just bring him that. And let him know we want him to come home. Whatever it is he's scared of happening, we can work it out together. See what he says."

"I don't think it'll do much good. But I'll try."

"Thanks, sweetie." Droosha squeezed his arm. "And thanks for looking out for him. You're a good friend."

Maz made his way out and it was all he could do not to start sniffling in the Hamdon's kitchen. He got outside, drew in a breath, and wiped a sleeve across his eyes. "Darn it, Guy. I hope you know you owe me big time."

* * *

Guy checked his phone. No, not another of the incessant texts from his parents. Maz was waiting for him. He flew down and hoisted his best buddy up into the steel girders, like he'd been doing for the past couple of weeks.

Maz shuddered and took a step away from the edge. "I will never get used to that, man." He dropped his backpack onto the ground, sat down and started riffling through it.

"She-yeah." Guy flung out his fist and his normal clothes rematerialised around him.

"You don't have to power down for me, you know."

"Yeah, but I'm a little sick of SheZow right now."

Guy watched Maz unpack and his stomach rumbled. He'd been thinking all night about what SheZap had told him. So much so, that he hadn't eaten anything for dinner. All Maz had left for him anyway were packets of chips. And he wasn't yet desperate enough to start dumpster diving.

Maz pulled out a giant plastic container and handed it to him. "Here. It's lasagna."

Guy's eyes widened. "Ohmygod, Maz, thanks!" He momentarily forgot his talk with SheZap. He snatched the container off Maz, popped the lid, took the fork that was sitting on top and dug in. It was cold but he was hungry.

Maz watched him for a moment, expressionless. Guy was almost halfway through when he finally spoke. "You're mom gave it to me."

Guy spluttered over a mouthful and spat it back into the container. "What… Mom?"

"Yeah."

"But how did she… Maz! I asked you not to tell!"

Maz stood to his feet and his hands balled into fists. "I didn't, dude! She guessed! And don't shout at me! I've been doing nothing but help! I haven't even told your family where you are, even though that would've been the right thing to do! I've had to keep quiet even though I can see it ripping them up inside. They miss you, man. But I still didn't tell. So you don't get to shout at me, okay?"

Guy stared at his friend for a moment. "Sorry," he finally muttered.

Maz sighed and sat back down. "No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. Your Mom didn't make me tell her where you were anyway. She just wanted to make sure you're okay, and that you've got something good to eat."

Guy pushed away the remaining lasagna. That sinking feeling he'd had for days since leaving took hold of his gut again. He sighed. "I just want to go home, Maz. But you know I can't."

"I know. Maybe things will die down though?"

Guy shook his head. But he could mope about the mess he'd got himself into later. "Probably not. But right now we've got bigger problems. SheZap payed me a visit. She's cranky about how Megadale's treating me, and her."

Maz scowled. "She's not stirring up trouble for you, is she? I mean, you look that much alike…"

Better to get right down to it. "She says she's going to wipe out Megadale."

"What? How!?"

"I don't know!" Guy threw his hands in the air. "She wouldn't tell me. Just told me get my family out by this evening."

Maz stood to his feet. "Dude, we need to talk to Sheila."

"She shut herself down. Said she didn't want Mom and Dad asking her questions. I've kind of been doing this on my own. SheZap said she was going to redirect something with the power to wipe out Megadale and I have no idea what. But you're right, Sheila might be able to figure it out."

"So what, we wake her up?"

"Yeah, but I have to do it from the she-lair."

* * *

It was midmorning by the time they snuck back into the she-lair. Mom had gone out grocery shopping. Kelly was upstairs, probably doing homework or something. Dad was out at work, which was by far most important. Out of everyone his father would flip the most if he found them here.

"Okay," Guy ran his hands over Sheila's console. "We just need to boot her back up."

Maz watched him for a moment. "You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

"What do you think I… no… no, I don't." Guy's shoulders slumped.

Maz groaned.

Sheila's console hummed to life.

"Dude, what did you press?"

"Not sure…"

"He pressed nothing," said Sheila as her screen activated with a crackle.

"Sheila!" Guy grinned. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed her too.

"Hey, sweetie," Sheila smiled.

Maz eyed her suspiciously. "If he pressed nothing… were you really shut down?"

"I couldn't go and completely turn myself off, now could I?" Sheila huffed. "I had to keep an eye on you. And your family. I just didn't want them pestering me as to your whereabouts. I would have given in way too quickly."

"Sheila, SheZap payed me a visit," Guy began. He proceeded to tell her everything the villain had told him.

"She's going to hit Megadale with something?" Sheila mused.

"Yeah, but we don't know…"

"Guy Hamdon!" Kelly's voice rang out across the she-lair.

Guy cringed and turned around.

His sister stomped over and put her hands on her hips. "Where the hell have you been? We've all been worried sick!"

"I've been trying to keep you safe!" Guy burst out. "Don't you think it's been hard on me too?"

"You're a complete idiot!" Kelly snapped. She glared at him, then let out a huff and threw her arms around his neck. "I missed you, you dummy."

Guy gripped his sister back tight. "Missed you too, sis."

"What are you doing back here? And you," she rounded on Sheila. "Where'd you go?"

"Sleep mode," Sheila said simply. "But no time for that. I've performed a quick search and I've found something big enough to wipe out Megadale. Harmless, except my sensors indicate it has recently undergone an inexplicable course change."

"Huh?" said Kelly. "What are you guys on about?"

Sheila quickly shifted to the background. A grainy video of a plummeting ball of fire dominated the screen.

"What is that?" Guy asked.

"Didn't you pay any attention in science class? That's a meteorite," Kelly huffed.

"Yes," said Sheila, "and thanks to SheZap, it's now on a direct collision course with Megadale."

"Wait, what?"

Guy tensed. "SheZap doesn't like how Megadale's treating him either, Kelly. So he told me he was going to wipe everyone out. That's how he's going to do it." He pointed to the screen.

"He's insane."

"Yeah, but it's still my fault."

Kelly folded her arms and gave her brother her best glare. "Guy, what SheZap does is not your fault."

"Maybe, but who else is going to stop that thing? Relax. I've got super strength, remember? I'll just pound it to pieces."

"That I wouldn't recommend," said Sheila. "We'll have hundreds of smaller rocks hitting Megadale. That could be far worse."

"So I'll just stop it, toss it back out."

"I'm not a hundred percent sure that'll work either."

Guy growled and his shoulders tensed. "Come on, Sheila! SheZap moved it!"

"Yes. But judging from its trajectory she also slingshotted that meteorite around the sun. It's now moving ten times faster than when she interacted with it."

Guy swallowed. "It's going to wipe out all of Megadale. Everyone that lives here, all because I was stupid enough to reveal SheZow's identity. We have to do something!"

"Let me do the calculations. I'm just not sure how much energy is required. If you don't do this right it could end up making things worse."

Guy groaned.

"This isn't your fault," said Maz.

Everyone kept saying that! Reality was, it wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been so stupid. "I don't care. I've got to do something."

"The meteorite will hit Megadale at 1800 tonight," said Sheila. "Barring your intervention of course. I'll let you know as soon as I have a solution. I suggest that in the meantime you do what you need to to make sure your families are safe and Megadale knows to evacuate. I'm going to be busy." She disappeared from the screen and was replaced by a progress bar.

"Well, two hours…" said Maz, reading the time indicated on the progress bar. "That's not too…" The timing jumped to three, four and a half, and then finally settled on five hours twenty minutes. "Oh…"

* * *

 **A/n:** Pretty sure Sheila is running on windows...

Please give me some reviews guys! I'm getting towards the climax now and things are going to get emotional (yeah, I'm trying to get some action in there, but I am writing a drama. It needs to be dramatic XD) But would love to know what you think of it so far.


	14. Chapter 14

Droosha hauled her groceries in through the front door. Boxter was at work so she'd taken the Mustang. She may as well use it; it was a nice car. Though it still felt a little wrong enjoying a sports car when her son was probably living in a gutter. She hoped he'd eaten her lasagna.

Droosha dropped the groceries on the kitchen floor. Then paused. "It's way too quiet in here," she muttered. Sure, the house had been a lot quieter without Guy around. And without Boxter complaining about SheZow all the time. Poor thing. Guy's absence had really hit him hard. But this wasn't that. Something didn't feel right.

Droosha walked through the house, listening. "Kelly?!" she called. No answer. She stopped at the entrance to the basement. And frowned. Then she made her way quietly down the stairs and into the she-lair.

"Oh come on, Sheila!"

Droosha froze on the threshold. Guy was there. In front of Sheila. Glaring at the screen and taping a foot. As if he hadn't even left.

"Hurry up. Don't make me sit around and do nothing!"

She hadn't seen him since he'd left. Boxter had. She was fairly certain Kelly may have been sneaking visits with him as well. But this was the first time since she'd found the note that she'd seen him in person. The news hardly counted. He wasn't SheZow, just in his cargo pants and hoodie.

Droosha cleared her throat. "Guy…"

Guy whirled around, eyes wide. "Mom?"

Droosha crossed the she-lair, her heart hammering in her chest.

Guy backed away as she approached. "Mom, I was just…"

"Oh, sweetheart," Droosha threw her arms around his neck. "Are you okay?" She held him for a long moment. Then stood back, frowned, and dusted at his shoulders. "Have you even washed these since you left?"

"Um… no. Mom, I'm sorry."

Droosha smiled. "Guy, I'm not worried about whether what you're wearing is clean. What are you going to do, sneak in and dump it in the laundry basket?"

"No, I mean running away. And about everything…" Guy swallowed and scuffed a shoe across the floor. "I know I messed up, I just didn't know what else to do."

"Guy, baby…" Droosha took him by the shoulders. Those few weeks had given her a lot of time to think. And to talk with Boxter. There had been plenty of time to talk; it was hard to sleep when your son was missing. She wasn't going to let Guy blame himself for this anymore. "You don't have to be sorry for anything. I know I pushed you into revealing your identity. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't have rushed you into something so important."

"Yeah, but I still chose to do it," Guy shrugged.

"I know. But it's okay. I'm not mad at you. Neither's Dad. We just want you to come home. I get why you left; I know you think it's dangerous for us. But it's not your job to protect us. Not at your own expense. What's important is that you're home now. We can work out what we're going to do to fix this. Your father's going to be so happy to see you…"

Guy took a step back. "Mom, no, you don't get it. I wasn't coming home. I just needed to talk to Sheila."

Droosha's heart sank. She swallowed hard. But Guy was right here. Right now. She could still convince him. "Okay, but…"

"I didn't just mess things up for us. Remember SheZap? She's going to wipe out all of Megadale." Her son filled her in on what was about to happen. "But it'll be okay. As soon as Sheila works out the best way to stop it; I'll go after it."

"After a whole meteorite?" Droosha glanced up at Sheila's screen. There was five hours on her progress bar. Droosha couldn't for the life of her work out what was involved with calculating the optimum strategy to stop a meteorite. But if it was taking a computer five hours to work out? She didn't need Sheila to tell her that the chances of SheZow stopping it were going to be tight.

She glanced down at Guy and swallowed hard. She had every faith in SheZow. But this was still her son. Going after a whole meteorite that his supercomputer wasn't yet convinced he could beat. A part of her wanted to grab him up and hold onto him and stop him. But she knew she couldn't. Instead, she put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. "Are you sure you want to do this, Guy?"

"I have to! We can't let it destroy Megadale. I don't have a choice!"

"You always have a choice, sweetie."

Guy drew in a breath. "Yeah, I know, Mom. And I'm choosing to stop it, okay? As soon as Sheila works out how."

Droosha closed her eyes briefly. Then she forced a smile. "Alright. You just do what you have to do."

Guy shuffled his feet. "Just… don't tell Dad, please? He'll freak out."

Droosha shook her head. "Sorry, Guy. I've put your father through enough already. I can't keep this from him."

"But he'll try and stop me. And he'll get upset…"

"He'll get upset because he loves you. More than I think he could admit. He's just not very good at expressing that sometimes."

"Guy," said Kelly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "If you don't want to tell Dad yourself, then maybe you'd better get out of here. I'm sure Sheila'll tell you what to do as soon as she knows. We'll warn Megadale."

"I'll help," said Droosha. "Even if you stop that thing there'll be collateral. The sooner the city finds out, the better, or they'll panic."

"Mom, there's no time for that, you guys need to get out of Megadale," said Guy. "If it doesn't work…"

Droosha grabbed Guys arms. "Guy, it'll work. You're SheZow. You've got superpowers. And you're a Hamdon. I know you're going to do everything in your power to stop that thing, super or not."

The encouragement didn't quite have the effect Droosha had hoped for. Guy looked at her with tears in his eyes. "Yeah, but if anything happened to you guys I'd never forgive myself."

Did he really think all this was his fault? "Tell you what. We'll do everything we can to make the city safe, then we'll get out of here, okay?"

Guy chewed his lip. Then he nodded. "Yeah, okay. I can deal with that. Just do that, and get Dad, and go as soon as you can, alright?"

"Deal." But Droosha had no intention of leaving Megadale without her son. Neither would Boxter; she didn't need to ask him to know that. But Guy didn't need to worry about their safety on top of everything else. "I'm proud of you sweetheart, just remember that. Now go and stop that meteorite."

A smile played at her son's lips. Despite everything, he was relishing the challenge of taking down something so huge. He nodded, took a step back from her, and flung out his fist. "You go girl!" Then with one last look at them, he jumped into the Shehicle and tore off.

Droosha let out a pent up breath. He would be okay. He had to be. One thing was certain, after rescuing Megadale from annihilation, its citizens would have no choice but to appreciate SheZow. So long as it was not the last thing the superheroine every did.

* * *

"There's a what?"

Boxter wasn't in any mood to go to some crisis meeting. He sat up the back on the edge of one of the station's desks, arms folded.

Wackerman was the one who'd asked the question. Boxter lifted his head and tried to pay attention. He hadn't heard either.

"A meteorite, heading right for Megadale," said Detective Johannson. She was leading the meeting. Didn't seem too happy about having to repeat herself either.

Boxter blinked. "Sorry, what?"

Detective Johannson glared at him, but didn't repeat herself. She knew he'd heard. "We're evacuating Megadale. We'll be responsible for keeping order and making sure everyone gets out safely. It sounds like we'll get some help from the Superhero Action Guild, but, as usual, don't expect them to take orders or be even remotely predictable."

"Yeah, okay," said Wackerman. "When are we talking…"

"By this afternoon."

"Hey, wait a minute," said Boxter. His muscles tensed. What the hell? "Don't people, you know, watch these things? Like they're talking about them on the news when they're passing hundreds of kilometres by the earth… how come we're only finding out now?"

"I have no idea who's screw up this is," Johannson growled. "But right now we have a job to do. Anyone who wants to leave with their families is free to go. But we desperately need all hands on deck."

A few of the officers grabbed their cell phones, madly thumping out text messages to their loved ones. For once, Johannson didn't snap at them for playing with them during a meeting. No one took up her offer to leave.

Boxter pulled out his own phone; just as he did it let out a chirp. He answered the call. "Droosha, baby, where are you? Something's happening and…"

Droosha didn't miss a beat. "I know. Guy's told me. You don't have to worry he's going to stop it."

A million thoughts flooded Boxter's mind. Foremost the one that, once again, he was the last to find out something of tremendous importance. "You've seen Guy?" he said, his voice catching. He didn't bother asking 'for how long?' He didn't want to ask; didn't want to know if she'd been doing things behind his back again.

"He snuck back into the she-lair. I've only just seen him. He told me what's happening and that he's going to stop it. I called you as soon as I got the chance. It's okay, sweetheart, I'm not leaving you out of this."

Boxter closed his eyes briefly and let out a sigh. "Thanks. But Guy, is he there?"

"No, he's gone."

His heart sank. "Can SheZow stop a meteor? Does he even know what he's doing?"

"I hope so. For all our sakes."

Boxter swallowed hard. "They're evacuating Megadale. You need to…"

"I'm not going anywhere, Boxter. Not without Guy."

He had expected no less, but he'd had to try. He felt the same way. "Kelly…"

"I'll see if I can get her to go with Maz's family. But it won't matter. Guy will stop it."

"Hamdon?"

Boxter looked up to find Johannson staring right at him, arms folded. "Sorry?"

"What was that about SheZow?"

"Got to go, Droosha. Just… stay safe. I'll talk to you soon." Boxter clicked off the phone. And cleared his throat. "Guy… SheZow thinks he can stop that meteorite. I don't know what he's going to do, but…"

"Good," said Johannson. "Because we can't evacuate all of Megadale in six hours." She looked around at all the other officers. "Okay, new plan. I want most of you on the evacuation. But for those of you who're game, we'll head to the point of impact. If SheZow turns up anywhere before that thing strikes, it'll be there. We might be able to help." She turned to Boxter, looked him right in the eye. "Hamdon, you in?"

"Hell yeah," Boxter growled, standing to his feet. Finally, he could do something!

Wackerman shifted to his feet beside him. "I'm in too."

"Good, let's go."

Boxter glanced at his partner. "Look… thanks…"

Wackerman gave him a crooked smile and clapped him on the shoulder. "You know I've always got your back, buddy. Even if your son does smash up my cruiser."

* * *

Back at his temporary home, Guy paced the largest span of steel girder he could find. Sheila wanted him to wait. Fair enough. He supposed it was tough to calculate how to stop a meteorite. But he hated to wait. Not only that, but the longer he waited, the closer that meteorite came. He almost felt like blowing it all and flying out there and just stopping it now. But what if that made it worse?

He scowled and growled to himself, turned around and paced the length of the girder again. This wasn't like just beating up a villain. If he had an accident doing that he might knock down a building or smash a cop car. Not wipe out all of Megadale.

"Thought you'd be long gone by now, toots."

Guy started so hard, for one brief moment he toppled to one leg on the edge of the steel girder, pinwheeling his arms. Oh yeah, he could fly. He took flight briefly, spun around, and then set himself back down on the girder. "Damn it, SheZap!"

SheZap was perched in the angled crossbeam of one of the vertical girders, leaning against the upright, arms folded. "Ooo language," she tutted. She leapt down to join Guy on the horizontal span. "Well, everything's in place."

Guy flew at SheZap, grabbed her collar and pinned her against the upright. Plenty of sunlight about. She wasn't bailing on him this time. "We're not wiping out Megadale," he snarled, inches away from her face. "I'm going to stop that meteorite."

SheZap's eyes narrowed. "Oh no you're not."

"Am. And you're going to help me."

"Now why would I do that?"

Guy hadn't thought that far ahead. "Because if you don't… I'll…"

SheZap laughed. "Oh, you're so cute sometimes. You know that, right?"

Guy didn't even bother powering up a super heavy handed she slap. He drew back his fist and punched SheZap right in the jaw, sending him sprawling to the edge of the girder.

"Ow…" SheZap worked her jaw as she got to her feet, but damn it all, she was still grinning. "Shouldn't hit girls, you know."

"You're not a girl, you idiot!"

"Ain't helping you. It's stupid. You know how fast that thing is going? You watch those disaster movies? You know how they end. In a big old ball of flame. You want to touch something like that? You want to be anywhere near it? Don't be stupid. You'll kill yourself."

Guy drew in a deep breath. He could feel his fists shaking. "Yeah? Well so be it."

SheZap frowned at him, cocking her head to one side. "You really are a weirdo, you know that, right?"

"Look, I don't want to wipe myself out either. But I made this mess, SheZap. I get it. I messed it up for you too. But let me take care of it. Not you. Help me stop this meteorite. Then I'll work out how to fix everything. I'll take responsibility. Promise."

SheZap chewed her lip, crossed her arms and tapped her foot. For a moment, Guy was fool enough to think she was actually considering it. Then she met his gaze and a wicked grin crossed her lips. "No."

Guy hit SheZap in a flying tackle. They flew off the Megadale bridge, grappling. Half hair pulling and half punches. They plummeted into the ocean below. Guy held his breath and tried to worm around in the sudden weightlessness.

SheZap grabbed his hair.

They surfaced, and Guy drew in a big gulp of air. But he could already feel his strength waning. Between the water and SheZap tugging at it from behind, his hair was a mess.

SheZap wrapped an arm around his chest and then grabbed him by the back of the head and shoved his face underwater. Guy swallowed a mouthful of brine before he remembered to stop breathing. He struggled, but he could not worm free. SheZap was still close to full strength.

Guy's lungs cried out for air. SheZow needed oxygen same as anybody else. Especially with her powers on the fritz.

Just as the murky water started to grow black around the edges, SheZap jerked Guy's head back and up above the water's surface.

Guy drew in a lungful of air, spluttering.

SheZap wrapped an arm around his throat, reducing his oxygen again.

Guy didn't care. Breathing at all felt great. And even half-drowned he was still mad as. Air in his lungs meant he could tell SheZap what he thought of her. "Still… gonna stop it… you son of a…"

SheZap kneed him from behind. Hard.

Guy choked off and doubled up as the pain shot through him. He sucked up a mouthful of water and sagged in SheZap's arms.

"Watch out for that one, toots. What with everyone knowing you're a dude and all." She hauled him up by the cape and flung him into a nearby buoy.

Guy grabbed it out of sheer reflex. The buoy flopped around and then finally righted itself. Guy struggled to haul himself above the waterline, gasping, fighting back tears and coughing up seawater.

"Get out of here, you loser!" said SheZap. "And take your precious family with you. I'm off to watch the show." She tore off into the sky.

For a few minutes, all Guy could do was cling to the side of the buoy, catching his breath. SheZap was long gone by the time he'd pulled himself together. He allowed himself one last whimper, before he pulled a can of she-lac out of his beautility belt and sprayed it through his hair.

SheZow's strength returned and he took to the air again. What was wrong with him? How was getting in a fight with SheZap, and getting his butt thoroughly kicked, supposed to help? How could he save Megadale if she'd really hurt him? "Well, I got us into this mess. Guess it's up to me to get us out."

* * *

 **A/n:** Okay, yeah I reused Detective Johannson, even though this is technically AU to the story I originally wrote her in. 1. I'm lazy. 2. I like her. XD

And I actually feel really, really bad, about having SheZap knee Guy. Because Guy's a sweetheart. But SheZap is a jerk, so… And yeah, gentlemen… let me know if my description in that regard is accurate, because I'm just guessing.


	15. Chapter 15

_2 hours to impact_

The police cruiser pulled up at the impact zone with a whoop of its sirens and a screech of tyres. Out in the suburbs, smack bang in the middle of a sports oval. If only the meteor would take out that much real estate and no more. Megadale would be wiped out, as well as everything in a forty mile radius. They knew where it would hit down to a couple hundred feet. But there was jack all they could do about it.

Boxter and Wackerman stepped out of the cruiser. A black SUV with MDPD painted in white on its side was close behind. It skidded to a halt, and Johannson climbed out, as well as the three other officers who'd volunteered.

Detective Johannson shielded her eyes from the glare of the sun with one hand, looking up at the sky. "Well, there she is."

Boxter looked up and spotted a fiery speck of light in the sky. Right now it just looked like a very bright star. Only it was the middle of the day.

"Heard from your son, yet?" Johannson asked.

Boxter huffed and pulled out his phone. "He hasn't contacted me for two weeks. I'm not sure he'll pick up."

"Just try. I've still got no idea what we're going to do."

"Me either." Boxter tried a half dozen times to call Guy. Each time it rang out and went to message bank. "Guy, pick up the phone!" he finally barked into it. He squeezed his eyes shut and mentally cursed himself. Lowered his voice. "Please. I need to talk to you. Please tell me you know how to stop this thing."

The fire department had arrived. As well as a few ambulances. What the hell did they think they were going to do? Well, what did the cops think they could do? There were a dozen people within meters of the point of impact. Men and women who'd put themselves right in the danger zone, and none of them could do a thing against two thousand tonnes of rock. At least the civilians close to the point of impact had been cleared out.

Boxter looked down at his phone and swallowed hard. "Guy, I sure hope you know what you're doing."

The roar of a powerful engine cut through the air. Boxter looked up, his heart leapt, thinking it might be the Shehicle. Instead, the bright red Mustang he'd so foolishly bought came careening in, narrowly missing a firetruck. Boxter winced. He had never quite figured out if his wife drove like a maniac because she knew exactly what she was doing, or if she was just lucky.

"Hey, it's okay, let her through!" he shouted. Some of the other cops were starting to look like they thought they had some crazy hoon on their hands.

Boxter jogged over to the car. A part of him wished he hadn't sent Droosha that text to tell her where he was going. But they'd decided they weren't keeping anything from each other, at least until they sorted things with their son out. The other part of him was just glad to see her.

Droosha stepped out of the Mustang, and put her arms around him as he barrelled right into her. Looked like she was glad to see him too. "Sweetheart, what are you all doing out here?"

"Waiting to see if we can help Guy."

"You've heard from him?"

"No. Where's Kelly?"

"I managed to convince her to drive out of town with Maz's family. Not that she needs to. SheZow can stop this thing."

"I sure hope you're right," said Johannson, stepping over to them. "Sorry to interrupt. But I hope we hear from SheZow soon. I've been in contact with the other cops. Six hours is no kind of time to stage an evacuation for a city this size. I'm not sure we'll get everyone out."

"He'll do it," said Droosha, without hesitation.

Boxter swallowed hard, drawing the arm he still held around his wife's shoulders tighter. He wished he had as much confidence as she did. "You shouldn't really stay here…" he began.

Droosha was already shaking her head. "I can't get out now, can I? It'll be okay. I'm staying with you."

He couldn't argue. He didn't want to. He looked up at Johannson. "I know it's not…"

Johannson held up her hands. "It's fine. I'm not going to chase her out. SheZow doesn't stop this thing we're all dead anyway." She walked away.

Boxter checked his phone. Still nothing from Guy. He swallowed hard. "How the hell is he supposed to stop a meteorite?"

"Boxter, he'll do it."

"Yeah, but that's not what I meant."

"He's SheZow. He's got superpowers."

"SheZow beats up villains and throws around things the size of a building. How big do you think that thing is?" he pointed up at the sky. "If he…"

Droosha took him by both hands. "I know you'r struggling with this."

"This isn't about me hating SheZow. It's about Guy."

"I don't know what to tell you. He'll do this. He has to. The really isn't any other option. For once, sweetheart, just trust he knows what he's doing. There really isn't anything else we can do."

* * *

"SheZow, are you there?"

Guy pounced on the ring like it was the last bag of chips.

"Of course I'm here, Sheila! Where have you been?" Guy looked up at the sky. A ball of fire hurtled towards the earth, steadily growing larger. The sun was sinking, but now the glowing meteorite was competing with it for dominance. "I can see that thing from here!"

"I know, sweetheart. But I had to be absolutely certain. I have some bad news."

Did Sheila seriously think things could get any worse than they were already? "What?"

"I've done the calculations. Even if you tackled that meteorite at the optimum angle, at the optimum time, you still won't stop it. It would take 132.76% of SheZow's energy to bring it to a complete stop."

"One thirty… come on, the decimal places?!" Guy threw his hands in the air. But it wasn't Sheila's frustrating accuracy that had him in a fluster. Guy sunk down onto the steel girder. "So what are we supposed to do?"

Sheila paused for a long moment. "Well, I'd suggest you get the SHE-C-10, collect your parents, collect your sister…"

"And what about everyone else!?" Guy shouted.

"Well if you had help…"

"I already asked SheZap. She said no." He swallowed and winced. "Rather forcefully."

"Then there's nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Guy."

Guy thought for a moment. Shook his head. "No. I'll just have to give it the hundred and thirty whatever percent then."

"Guy," Sheila sighed. "It doesn't work that way."

"So what happens if I just give it a hundred?"

Sheila didn't answer.

"Sheila!"

"You may slow it down."

"So why didn't you tell me that?! If I slow it down, it wipes out less of Megadale, yeah?"

"I didn't tell you, because I knew you'd behave like you're behaving now, Guy. You can't win them all. And yes, the meteorite won't wipe out as much of Megadale, but that's not what you're going to do."

"Why not?"

"I won't allow it."

"Sheila!"

Sheila ploughed ahead. "The optimum position to stop the meteor is right beneath it. You'll slow it down. But then, you'll…"

"Sheila, please!" Why was she making this so hard? She'd never given this much trouble helping before.

"You're under it. What do you think will happen?" Sheila huffed. "You may not be able to get out of the way. I can't let you do that."

Guy swallowed. "Oh. But Megadale…"

"My job is to protect SheZow," Sheila said curtly. "Not Megadale."

Guy sighed and looked at his feet, then he drew himself up and faced her again. "Can you actually stop me?"

"No, but I'll…"

"I made this mess, Sheila. Now I have to stop it."

She didn't say anything for a long moment. Then: "The optimum time to engage the meteor is fifteen minutes from now. Any sooner or later and the force required to halt it increases exponentially. You need to be under it and directly in line with its direction of travel, you understand?"

"Yeah," Guy swallowed hard. His heart was in his throat. She'd given in. A part of him almost wished she hadn't. "And then?"

"Push as hard as you can. And for goddess' sakes, get out from under it just before it hits. You might have a chance then."

"Okay." Fifteen minutes? Was that it? All he had left? Guy didn't want to die. Kelly would kill him. Mom would blame herself. Dad would… he didn't know what Dad would do. But despite how he felt about SheZow, Guy knew it would break him.

Guy's fists tensed. That wouldn't happen. Like he'd let himself be defeated by some stupid hunk of rock! He'd work things out, he always did. But he wasn't fool enough to think there wasn't a high probability of something terrible happening. Sheila wouldn't have tried so hard to stop him otherwise. "Sheila, I just… I know I'm sometimes really hard to work with. And I don't listen to you all the time. But… I… I just…"

"Sweetheart, it's okay. I love you too. Be careful, okay? Whatever happens I'll be here for you."

"Thanks Sheila."

"Bye, Guy." She cleared her throat and then disconnected from the ring all too quickly.

Guy sunk down on the edge of the girder, putting his head in one hand. Then he pulled himself up and pulled out his phone. There were like twenty missed calls from Dad. For once he wasn't annoyed. It made his heart catch in his throat. He drew in a breath and then hit recall.

* * *

Droosha waited, arms folded, leaning against the Mustang. They had to hear from Guy soon. And that was when her husband's phone finally started chirping.

Boxter just about dropped it trying to answer the call. "Guy?"

Johannson's head shot up from where she stood beside the SUV. "Alright, everyone cut the chatter!" she shouted. No one argued with her; all the other cops stopped talking immediately. Even most of the firefighters, whom she had no authority over, looked startled and shut up.

Droosha grasped Boxter's free hand as he hit speaker on the phone.

"Yeah, Dad, it's me."

Boxter let out a deep sigh. "Aw, Guy, where have you been, son?"

"Out of the way. Keeping you safe. But that's not important now."

"Yeah, I know. The meteorite."

"Where are you?"

"Right near the point of impact," said Droosha. "I'm here too."

"What?" The phone crackled. "You should be evacuating!"

"Not without you, sweetheart."

"Okay, okay, but you need to get as far back as you can…"

"No," Boxter growled. He clenched the phone so tight his hand shook. "We're here to help. The cops and the fire department. Just tell us what you need us to do and…"

"Dad, I need you to get back! I'm going to push it back and then put it down. No crater. It'll be fine."

"Then why you need us to get back?" Boxter growled.

Guy paused briefly. "I don't know, I might drop it. Look, I know you're worried. But I've got this."

Johannson had been listening in. She was already barking orders at the cops, telling them to get back.

"Yeah, okay," Boxter pushed. "But what are you planning on doing? Just tell me…"

"Dad, I've got this, just trust me."

"Look, if you don't tell me. I'm not going to let you…"

"Dad!" Guy burst out. "I'm not calling to ask your permission. I'm doing this. I just… I just called to let you know. Just to make sure you knew and that you were someplace safe, okay? And, you know, tell you that I'm sorry about all the SheZow stuff. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Boxter stared at the phone. "I…" he gritted his teeth.

"Bye, Dad. Mom…"

"No, wait," said Boxter. Droosha felt his grip on her hand tighten so much it hurt.

"I've got to go, sorry…"

"I love you, son." It just kind of spilled out. Like it had taken Boxter that much effort but he couldn't risk Guy not hearing before he hung up.

There was a pause. "I know, Dad. I love you too." The call clicked off.

Most of the cops were gone already. As were the firetrucks. Just the SUV and the Mustang were left. And Johannson and Wackerman.

Boxter drew in a sharp breath, putting the back of his hand to his mouth. He turned away from Droosha, let go of her hand, pushed past her and shut himself in the Mustang.

Droosha swallowed, tears filling her eyes. She turned to Johannson. "Two minutes?" she asked, holding up two fingers.

Johannson nodded. "We'll wait. Escort you out."

Droosha opened the drivers side door of the Mustang and slipped inside.

Boxter sat in the passenger seat with his head in his hands. His shoulders were shaking.

"Baby," Droosha put a hand on his back. "It'll be okay. He's going to stop it."

Boxter drew in a breath and looked up at her. Tears were still running down his face. "We're…" he couldn't even speak without ragged breaths breaking through. "Droosha, we're going to lose him," he finally managed to choke out.

"You don't know that."

Boxter made a valiant effort to pull himself together. He wiped a hand across his face, drawing in a sharp breath. His breathing steadied, if only a little. "Don't you get it? Thats… that's why he called. You heard him. He wasn't asking permission. He was saying goodbye." He shuddered again.

Droosha swallowed hard. She played the conversation again in her head. Had that been what Guy was doing?

"It's a giant meteorite. How's he suppose to stop it?"

"I don't know. But he'll stop it. I have faith in him."

Boxter wiped a hand across his eyes with a growl. "I want to. But I don't want to lose him either."

"That's okay. I know you're scared. So am I. But we haven't lost him yet. He'll stop it. And if not… we're not going to have long without him anyway, are we?"

"How did we mess up so bad?" Boxter shook his head.

Droosha reached across and wiped the remaining tears from his cheeks. "We'll do whatever we can to help him, alright? Together."

Boxter nodded. But his eyes were still watery. "We can't do anything. We just have to wait." He sighed and sagged against the window.

Droosha put the Mustang in gear and followed the SUV out. Boxter stared out the window, still trying to pull himself together. What if he'd been right? What if Guy was saying goodbye? What would she do if she lost her son? She'd deal with that if it came to it. But goddess, she hoped Boxter was wrong.

* * *

Kelly craned her neck out the window of Maz's parents' car. The honk of horns was almost deafening. There were only two highways out of Megadale. And the one they were on was packed. She never should have let Mom talk her into leaving! Like, sure, she got she wanted to know one of her kids were safe. But she was pretty certain if that thing hit they'd be wiped out as it was. The traffic wasn't moving at all.

Her phone let out a chirp. There was a text message from Guy.

 _Going to stop the meteorite. Stay away. Love you._

Kelly frowned, then she showed the text to Maz.

"He said he loves you?" Maz whispered.

His mother and father were in the front, about as frustrated and making as much noise as everyone else in the traffic jam. Their car let out three quick honks as they jerked to a standstill.

"Yeah. Now why do you think he'd say that?"

The two exchanged looks. Then nodded. They then simultaneously opened their respective car doors and leapt outside, then ran back towards Megadale.

Amongst the hoots of car horns, Kelly was pretty sure she heard Maz's father shouting after them.

"I almost hope that thing hits," said Maz through gritted teeth, "because I'm so grounded."

They'd only gone a couple hundred feet when Kelly skidded to a halt. "Hang on," she said, holding out a hand to stop Maz.

Uma Thermal and Captain XL were there. As well as some other superheroes. Directing traffic. Directing traffic?! Okay, not quite. Directing traffic also included picking up a rather sizeable semi and moving it out of the way of the lane it was blocking. But still.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Kelly growled.

"Kelly, don't…" Maz grabbed at her arm. "We've got to help Guy…"

"What are we supposed to do, huh? We don't have powers, but these guys…" Her hands tensed into fists. "Hey!" she shouted.

Uma Thermal turned around. She had been attempting to break up a shouting match between the occupants of two vehicles. By lighting up a fireball between them. "Move along, kid. We're busy here."

"Doing what? How about you try and stop that meteorite? That's what SheZow's doing!"

"SheZow?" Uma paused for a moment, then huffed and rolled her eyes. "Wouldn't surprise me. But in case you didn't get the memo, SheZow's no longer a hero…"

Of all the hypocritical stupidity! "No longer a hero? SheZow is no longer a member of your stupid Guild! But as for a hero? He's the one trying to push away that meteorite. And what are you doing? Putting out spot fires? Or just starting them? He's the real hero, not you!"

"Stupid little…" Uma drew in a breath, hands tensed into fists, and then relaxed. "SheZow's a fool if she actually thinks she can stop that thing. You got any contact with her you tell her to stop mucking about and get out here and do something useful like the rest of us. She'll just get herself killed."

Kelly tensed and took a step forward, goddess knew what she would actually do.

But Maz grabbed her by the arm and held her back. "If SheZow's gonna get herself killed then why don't you help?!" he said. "You're supposed to be a Guild; if you actually work together…"

"Best we can hope for is to get as many people out of here as possible!" Uma growled. "SheZow wants to be a glory hog, and try and do something stupid cause it'll make him look good, fine, but don't expect us to back him up!"

Maz stared at her. "Is that what you really think he's doing?"

Kelly had regained control of herself, but her chest still heaved. This was a lost cause. "At least he shouldn't expect back up until he pays the membership fee, huh? Guy was right, you people are freaking useless. Come on, Maz." She huffed and turned away, dragging on Maz's arm.

No explosion from Uma, no shouted insults after them. Kelly had no idea what the superheroine thought of her final comment, but she wasn't going to turn around and let her see the tears in her eyes.

Maz hung onto her arm a little longer than was necessary as she dragged him away. "He'll stop it Kelly," he said.

"He'd better," Kelly growled. "Or I'll kill him myself."

* * *

 **A/n:** Boxter's a flipping sweetheart. I want to kidnap him. Kelly's on the warpath... XD

Please review!


	16. Chapter 16

_Half an hour to impact_

Guy flew up into the sky, towards that plummeting ball of fire. In two minutes he'd have to hit that thing. Did he need to warm up or something? 130%. It'd take a lot. But stuff whatever Sheila said. He could do 130%. He was SheZow.

Yet that still hadn't stopped him calling Mom and Dad, and texting Kelly. If this was the last thing he did he wanted to be sure he'd squared off everything with his family.

Guy slowed down, watching as the meteor rocketed down towards him. It loomed in the sky, twice as large as the sinking sun. Flames licking around its edges, snatched backwards by the rush of air.

Guy growled and his fists tensed at his side. "There is no way I am going to let some stinking chunk of rock beat me. You hear that, Megadale!" Of course they couldn't. But he needed to psyche himself up. "I'm going to stop that thing." He focused on the meteor, muscles tensed. "Alright, no more Mr Nice Girl."

The meteor grew larger and larger. Now all he could see in front of him. The air around him grew hotter. "Three, two, one…"

The rocky surface of the meteorite roared down to meet him. Craters and mountains racing towards him. "Oh… crap…" It slapped into him, pushing him back. Guy winced. He got his hands on the surface and pushed. His arms shook. He was drenched in sweat instantaneously. The rock beneath his palms began to heat up. How the hell was he supposed to do this?

Guy pushed with everything he had. For a moment it felt as if nothing was happening, and then the surface of the meteorite begin to shudder and shake.

"Oh yeah. Now we're getting somewhere," Guy grunted.

Question was, would he win this tug of war before the meteorite obliterated Megadale?

* * *

Boxter straightened himself up and groaned as they pulled up at what emergency services deemed a safe distance. He wasn't quite sure where they were, wouldn't have been more than a couple of miles from the future crash site. The short trip had been a blur. He was trying as hard as he could not to think of his son.

The appearance of the Megadale News van was not helping. It was parked right behind the police vehicles, its side door hanging wide open.

Droosha glared right at it and her grip tightened on the Mustang's steering wheel.

"I can't deal with that right now," Boxter swallowed. He'd managed to stop himself crying but he still felt shaky. The last thing he wanted was bloody Brian Smirk advertising him breaking down again to the whole city.

"It's okay. I can talk to them if they get pushy," said Droosha. She reached across and squeezed his hand. Forced a smile. She didn't look quite as confident now.

Damn it, why had he let himself break down like that? Droosha still thought Guy could stop the meteor, stop it and still be okay. He should have at least held himself together and let her have a few more minutes of hope.

Droosha set her sights on the news van, drew in a breath, and stepped out of the car.

Boxter waited a moment, gauging his mood, then steeled himself and followed her.

Johannson was blocking Brian Smirk from getting any further beyond the police vehicles, arms folded; she wasn't going to budge an inch.

Brian Smirk wasn't having any of it. Too used to pushing his way into where he wasn't supposed to be, he wasn't backing off either. "Look, love, we've got a right to be here. Freedom of the press, you know."

Yeah, 'love' would go down real well with the detective. Idiot. At least it looked like Johannson would be successful in keeping him back.

Except that Droosha was heading right for him. Fists tense at her side. For a half second, Boxter thought she was going to throw a punch.

But she simply pushed her way past the detective and planted herself in front of Brian. "You want to make my son look bad, huh?" she snapped. "How about you interview someone old enough to stand up to you?"

Johannson let out a huff and left her to it.

Brian Smirk barely missed a beat. "Ladies and gentlemen I'm here now with Droosha Hamdon, mother of the infamous SheZow, who we hear is planning on stopping the approaching meteorite from hitting Megadale…"

"Yeah, and that's with all of the crap you guys have been saying about him. Seriously, ever since you found out who he is you haven't stopped tearing strips off him. He's just a kid! But he's still going to save all your lives. You should be grateful."

"Grateful for all the damage he's done to Megadale, you mean?" Brian raised an eyebrow.

"How much damage do you think a meteorite is going to do, huh, genius?"

"Well, that will depend on SheZow won't it? Does your son have the sense of responsibility to come through? He hasn't shown much recently, or, you know, at all."

Droosha's eyes narrowed. "You'd better hope so. Because you're standing right in the path of that meteorite, Brian. What'd your station tell you? That this would be the story of the century? You must be real important to them, huh?"

Brian Smirk faltered; for the first time he looked a little pale. "Well… um… okay… let's take a look at where that meteorite is and…"

"Wait, I'm not done with you yet, mister," Droosha growled, stepping back into the frame.

"Not how this works," Brian snapped. He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her away.

Actually pushed his wife! Boxter's emotions were raw as it was. His hands balled into fists and he took a step forward. And probably would've got himself into some serious trouble, what with that camera rolling, if Wackerman hadn't grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him back. "Easy, buddy. It's under control."

Boxter whirled on his partner, drew back his fist, but something deeper than his surface emotions ground him to a halt. He'd never hit Wackerman, not for serious.

Then he caught sight of Johannson, stepping forward, holding up her hands. "Woah, Brian, hold it right there. Pretty dumb move, assaulting a woman right on camera. What with all these cops around too."

"Wait, what?!" Brian baulked. "But all I did was touch her…"

"And, there's the confession. Gonna have to take you into custody." Johhannson grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him round and pulled his arms behind his back.

"You can't… I'm a respected journalist!" Brian tried to jerk away.

"Don't push your luck, love," Johannson growled. "Don't make me add resisting arrest." She dragged him away from the camera, over to one of the cop cars.

Droosha was left standing in front of the cameraman, by herself. The cameraman looked a little lost for a moment. Then he put a finger to his ear; evidently he had some link back to the station. Then he looked up at Droosha and gestured for her to keep going. Megadale News still wanted their story, even if their star journalist had just got himself arrested.

Droosha swallowed and met Boxter's gaze. Then she turned back to the camera. "Look, Megadale, Guy is going to stop that meteorite. And I just hope that makes up for everything you think he's done…" She looked right into the camera, but down below it's frame, Boxter could see her hands shaking. Seemed talking to Megadale was a bigger struggle for her then chewing out Brian Smirk.

Man, she was amazing. Boxter's gut churned. But what the hell was he doing? Standing back here? After all the fuss he'd made about doing things together. She was up there all by herself. Why? Because he was scared he'd break down again, this time right in front of that camera?

Boxter looked up at the sky. The meteorite grew closer. Guy was probably up there now, trying to stop it. Tears pricked the back of his eyes again. Even after all Megadale had done to him. Guy'd been embarrassed in front of the whole city too but it sure as hell hadn't stopped him.

"God, I'm an idiot." Boxter stepped from Wackerman's grasp. This time his partner did nothing to stop him.

"All he's trying to do is be a hero, and…" Droosha faltered as he came and stood beside her.

Boxter turned towards the camera, but didn't look up yet. He squeezed Droosha's hand and waited for her to finish.

She glanced across at him. "… And he's going to stop it, you'll see."

"Look," Boxter began. At least his voice was steady. "I get it Megadale. I know that SheZow made a mess of a few things. Well, a lot of things. And I'd be the first to admit finding out she's my son… made me a little uncomfortable."

He could feel Droosha looking at him. Like 'where are you going with this?' But she didn't interrupt him.

"But you know what? Despite having to run away from home just cause it was the only way he could get away from our screwed up legal system, and the Superhero Action Guild, who weren't that much better. Despite all the crap the media's thrown at him… and the way I treated him…" His vision was blurring. He found he didn't care. He pointed up at the sky. "I don't care what you think of a boy running around saving the world in pink. He's the one up there stopping that thing. Not us cops, not the Guild. He's a bloody hero and I'm proud of him! I just… I just hope I get the chance to tell him that. If I don't that'll be my fault."

Boxter could feel the pain well up again. Stupid camera was still going too.

Droosha wrapped her arms around him and drew him into a hug."Proud of you, babe," she whispered into his ear. "He's going to be okay."

When Boxter looked up again the cameraman had shifted to capture the descending meteorite. Thank God.

Guy had to have engaged it by now. But Boxter couldn't see him. Didn't expect to. His son would be dwarfed by the thing. The meteorite already appeared four times the size of the sun.

Droosha squeezed his hand. She hadn't let it go.

* * *

Guy arms had begun to shake. The heat in his palms bordered on unbearable. He still pushed against the meteorite; he could still feel it rumbling under his onslaught. But was he even doing anything? It had to be slowing down. But was it slowing fast enough? He didn't dare turn around and check.

"Come on…" Guy heaved harder. His arms faltered and he gasped as pain shot through his muscles.

"You're really keen on this, huh?"

Guy squinted, turning his head around just enough to spot SheZap. She leaned against the leading edge of the meteorite, just kind of cruising along with it, watching him with arms folded.

"You could… help you know…" Guy groaned.

"Hmm." SheZap shifted and leaned one hand against the rock surface. "Bit warm here, isn't it?"

Guy strained harder. Maybe if he just pushed harder. But he couldn't. His arms were trembling badly now, his muscles buckling and cramping. He couldn't push as hard as he had been. He was going to drop it. He was going to fail.

"SheZap… please, I can't do this by myself."

"Why don't you just give up? It'll be so much more fun."

"SheZap!" It felt like the meteorite was shoving back, pressing up against him. Guy hissed in a breath, pushed back. God, it hurt. "Why. Are you even. Here…" He drew in a shuddering breath.

"You're an idiot. Believe it or not, I don't want you to kill yourself. You're way too much fun. Who am I going to play with?"

"You should've thought of that before you threw this thing at Megadale!" Guy drew in a sharp breath. The ache was spreading across his shoulders and back. He couldn't do this.

"Yeah, but I didn't know you were going to be such a idiot. Oh fine!" SheZap turned around and planted himself right next to SheZow against the meteorite's surface.

Guy couldn't believe it. The force pushing against him let up instantly. He almost let go. Not only did his arms ache but the surface of the meteorite was so hot he was pretty sure he was burning himself, even through SheZow's gloves and superhero skin. But he couldn't. This would need a lot more than either his or SheZap's strength alone.

So he kept pushing, despite the pain in his arms and shoulders. Despite the heat getting even worse.

For a precious few minutes, he and SheZap were able to drastically slow the meteorite.

"Wow, yeah okay." SheZap pulled back and blew on his hands.

The meteor surged against Guy again. "SheZap!"

"Oh, come on! This is only going to take out like three or four blocks or something now! I ain't going to break my nails for three or four blocks…"

"My parents are probably within three or four blocks!"

"Who's fault is that?"

Guy growled, gathered himself, and pushed against the surface again. "Going… to stop… it…" He squeezed his eyes shut. If he just gave it everything he had left, he could do it. He ignored the pain in his shoulders, in his hands, ignored the tears stinging his eyes.

"Dude, I am never going to understand you," said SheZap.

Guy barely heard her; he assumed she'd gone. She'd helped, if only a little, and that just might be enough.

"Guy. Guy!" Sheila's voice finally cut through.

"Shei…la…" Guy managed to choke out. He couldn't open his eyes to see her. He felt sure it would shatter his willpower and he'd falter for good.

"Get out of there! You've slowed it down enough."

"But…"

"I've done the calculations, your mom and dad are far enough back. Guy, move now. You have to trust me."

Guy let go of the meteorite. He flew back, or tried to. His arms were like jelly. He'd used every last ounce of SheZow's strength - there was nothing left to fly away with.

Guy groaned and slumped in the air. He could feel SheZow's transformation fizzling and dissolving around him, unbidden. And he was still under the meteorite. His power was gone. He couldn't get away from it now. Well, at least he'd slowed it down.

The roar and rush of heated air surrounded him, the last thing he heard, as he mercifully passed out before the meteor could slam him into the ground.


	17. Chapter 17

The boom when the meteorite struck was deafening. The light from the impact bathed every surface in a flickering orange red glow. The buildings around them shook, panes cracked in the windows.

Boxter drew Droosha into his arms. He put his back to the blast, held her close to his chest and closed his eyes. Braced himself. But the only thing that hit was a rush of air. Boxter lifted his head and turned around.

Small bits of loose debris littered the street. Leaves, toppled bins, shattered glass. But that was the extent of the nearby destruction.

"Told you he'd do it, sweetheart," Droosha smiled up at him and squeezed his arm.

Boxter stepped back and looked around. He swallowed hard and waited, the seconds stretching. But the city was still. Nothing. No one. "Yeah, but where is he?"

They exchanged a look and then headed for the Mustang. Droosha drove. The whoop of fire and police sirens followed them but even emergency services, used to driving their vehicles fast, couldn't keep up with his wife. Despite telling him it would all be okay, she was as desperate to check on Guy as he was.

They screeched to a halt where the road ended. The damage was worse here; churned up bitumen marked the edge of the crater. The oval where it had hit was completely gone. The streets and houses on its edges all but obliterated. The crater stretched downwards, filled with smoke and debris, and perhaps the hint of a rocky alien surface hiding down inside.

Boxter jumped out of the car, slammed the door. Got as close to the edge of the crater as he dared without slipping on loose bitumen. There was still no sign of his son. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted: "Guy!"

He heard the car door slam; Droosha came and stood beside him.

"Guy!" Boxter called again.

Droosha stared out at the crater, hugging herself, her eyes searching, perhaps for any sign of something pink. "He's got to be there… somewhere…" she said, and her voice faltered. For the first time since they'd found out Guy was facing this thing she was unable to offer any words of hope. Reality was setting in.

Boxter swallowed, his heart going out to her. "Hey…" he grasped her shoulder. "He'll be okay… I'll, I'll go down and find him." He didn't quite believe his own words. But he could actually do something now. Not just wait. He just didn't know what he was going to find.

Droosha sniffed, then nodded. "Okay. You just be real careful, okay honey?"

"Yeah." Boxter put his arms around her. Then he pulled away. He didn't look behind him but carefully picked his way down the loose rubble on the slope. A sulphur smell reached his nostrils and he paused as he reached the bottom, just in case there was anything toxic in the air. It was smokey and he had to hold the back of his sleeve to his mouth so he didn't choke up. His eyes were watering but he didn't feel faint. So he pushed forward.

"Guy! Where are you son!?"

The sound of sirens grew closer behind him. At least he'd have back up. You know, if he found anything.

"Guy!" Boxter pushed his way deeper through the smog. The air was hot; he was already drenched in sweat.

Movement caught his eye. The outline of a girl with long hair and cape became visible. Boxter's heart leapt to his throat and he took a step forward. "Guy…"

The smog cleared around them. For the briefest of moments he thought his son was okay. Except that the caped hero had a green tinge to her. And she carried a crumpled up Guy in her arms.

Boxter drew in a sharp breath and ground to a halt.

"You're son's not too bright, you know that, right?"

Boxter swallowed. "SheZap?"

"Aw, what gave it away?"

SheZap was dangerous. But instead of focusing on the villain in front of him Boxter couldn't tear his eyes away from his son curled up in her arms. He wasn't SheZow, just in singed cargoes and hoodie. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Boxter wanted to rush to him, but his courage had failed. "What'd you do to him?" he said, voice hoarse.

"Me? I saved his life. Idiot wanted to keep shoving that meteorite around even though SheZow wasn't strong enough. I mean, he didn't mess up his hair or anything, but still managed to kaput all her power. So I gave him a bit of a hand. And you know what? He still wouldn't get out of the way, so I had do that for him too." With a huff that sounded very much put out, SheZap heaved Guy out of his arms and onto the ground. "Relax, sweetie. He's still breathing, I checked. Toodles." SheZap took a step back and faded into the shadows.

It was as if a chain holding him back had snapped. Boxter skidded to his knees at his son's side and drew him into his arms. "Guy? Come on son, talk to me, please…"

* * *

Kelly and Maz arrived at the impact zone.

The city had rocked beneath them only moments before. The earth had shook, and they had clung onto each other as the world trembled around them. And then it had all died down.

"He… Kelly he did it," said Maz.

"Yeah, Maz? You can let go of me now."

They made their way to the edge of the crater. Police vehicles, firetrucks, ambulances were all there. Blue and red lighting lit the edges of everything, and the smoke in the air.

"What the hell are you kids doing here?" A stern looking female cop caught sight of them as they reached the emergency vehicles.

"Um…" Maz began.

"Mom!" Kelly shouted. Her mother was waiting on the edge of the crater, arms folded.

The cop glanced across to her mother, and then sighed. "Figures. Alright, in you go, keep out from under everyone's feet, got it?"

Droosha grabbed Kelly up into her arms as she ran to her.

"Mom! Guy did it!"

"Yeah, honey, I know." Her mother smiled, but it seemed forced.

Some of the firefighters were already making their way cautiously down the slope of the crater, respirators held loosely to their faces. Kelly swallowed hard. "So, where's Guy?"

"Down there. Somewhere. Your father's looking for him."

"He's in there?!" said Maz. He took a step onto the loose rubble at the crater's edge, a determined scowl on his face.

Wackerman stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, drawing him up short. "Hey, it's okay. Plenty of guys down here; they'll find him. It's safer if you stay up here."

Maz glared at him but he didn't push it.

Kelly looked down into the smoke filled crater, and her heart sank. Could her brother really have gone too far this time? He'd stopped the meteorite, but what if…

Droosha put an arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Guy felt a thump shake his body and the warm cocoon of unconsciousness shattered. His arms and shoulders ached, his palms stung. He struggled even to open his eyes.

Someone grabbed him and pulled him up, arm around his back, supporting him. "Guy? Come on son, talk to me, please…"

Guy whimpered, forced himself to crack open his eyes.

His father was looking down at him. He drew in a sharp breath and smiled faintly. "Hey, son."

"Did I stop it?" Guy asked. Even those few words took tremendous effort. But he had to know.

"Yeah, well, close enough." Boxter shrugged. "Pretty sure no one's hurt. You did good."

There was so much more he wanted to say to Dad right now. He'd run away. He'd messed up everything for his family. And he didn't know where to start. He didn't have the strength to say it anyway. Guy's body ached. His shoulders were trembling and he felt he could barely move. Even to hug his father required him to get his arms around him.

All he could do was choke over a sob. "Dad…" Tears filled Guy's eyes as he turned his face into his father's shirt.

"Aw, sweetheart," Boxter squeezed him tighter. "I know you're hurt; it's okay. I've got you." His father scooped him up, arm around his shoulders, the other supporting his legs.

Guy tucked himself up tight against the warmth of his father's chest, still crying. But he was fast losing the strength even to keep that up. The haze of unconsciousness again engulfed him.


	18. Chapter 18

Droosha paced the edge of the crater. Both her husband and her son were down there. But it was Guy she worried for. She'd known he'd stop the meteorite. He was SheZow, and he wasn't going to back down.

But the devastation in the crater stretched out before her and she saw no sign of him. Surely after such a great feat he would come flying out to show off? Even after everything that had happened, he had to know stopping the meteor would get Megadale back on side. He wouldn't hesitate to lap up the praise.

His absence meant something had happened. He'd stopped the destruction of Megadale. But somehow Droosha had thought it would be more black and white. Either defeat the meteor, or all of Megadale would be lost. It hadn't occurred to her he'd stop it but sacrifice himself in the process.

That thought brought a choked sob from her throat and she held a hand to her mouth.

Kelly grabbed her free hand. "Mom, he'll be okay… he…"

"Hey! Little help!" Boxter's voice came from deep within the smog in the crater.

Droosha straightened. The haze was still thick; she couldn't see him.

The firefighters and cops moved down towards the sound of his voice. Then Boxter emerged from the smog. Wackerman grabbed him by the arm and helped haul him up the slope. Both Boxter and the crumpled bundle in his arms.

"Guy!" Kelly let go her hand and rushed to the edge of the crater.

"Careful, honey," Boxter called up, then choked over the smoke in the air.

Wackerman steadied him.

"I'm fine." Boxter cleared his throat. He clung to his son tighter and made the last few steps to the top of the crater with his partner at his side. "It's okay, Kelly. He's alive. He's just…"

Droosha drew in a sharp breath. But still she hung back. Her son was alive. But he was hurt. She didn't need to ask or look closer to know.

And she had done that to him.

The guilt was a knot in her stomach. Why had she made him reveal his identity? This was all her fault.

"Dad," said Kelly, "we need to get him to Sheila."

"We need to get him to a hospital."

Already one of the ambulances on the scene was opening its rear doors.

"But when something happens to SheZow, Sheila can…"

"It's not just SheZow that's hurt, Kelly," said Boxter. He was far more together than he had been earlier. But he still cradled Guy close. "Just let them look at him first okay?"

Kelly nodded, still staring at her brother.

Guy stirred in his father's arms.

"Guy!" Kelly exclaimed. "What the hell were you thinking?"

Maz too, shot to his side. "Dude, you okay?"

"I…" Guy blinked at them, and then sunk back into Boxter's arms with a whimper.

"It's okay, son. You're safe. Go back to sleep." Boxter passed him into the back of the ambulance, hesitating just a little before he completely gave him over to the paramedics. Then he turned and looked right at her.

Droosha didn't want him to look at her right now. She hugged herself and looked down at the ground.

"Hey…" Boxter moved to her side, put a hand on her arm. "Sweetheart, don't cry. It's okay, I don't think he's broken anything, or anything bad. He's just exhausted. I mean, he just stopped a whole meteorite. That's got to take a lot."

Droosha swallowed and looked up at him. "I still did this to him. I made him tell who SheZow was. None of this would have happened…" she choked off and dropped her gaze.

"Droosha…" Boxter took her by the arms, and then glanced back at the ambulance. "Someone needs to go with him."

"Well, go."

"You should go with him."

"I can't, not after… everything…"

"Hey," Boxter smiled at her faintly. "It'll be okay. Just talk to him. I know he's okay, that's all I need for now."

Droosha nodded. She didn't have the energy to argue. She climbed into the back of the ambulance. The doors were shut behind her, and they started moving. Guy was curled up on his side, eyes closed, chest heaving in and out as he took deep breaths. He did just look immensely exhausted.

Droosha sat down next to him and put a hand as gently as she could on his shoulder. "Oh, sweetheart."

* * *

Guy opened his eyes. They were heavy, and it took him a few tries to force them fully open. For a moment, he wasn't sure where he was. Then he felt a dull ache spread across his shoulders as he became fully conscious. Oh yeah.

He let out a faint moan and forced himself to focus. He was in a hospital room, that must be where he was. The room was white and unfamiliar. He was lying on a bed with crisp sheets. And down at the foot of the bed, head resting on her folded her arms, his mother was asleep.

"Mom?" he said. His throat felt dry.

Droosha stirred, blinking blearily, then focused on him and smiled. "Sweetheart, you're awake."

Guy kind of wished he wasn't. His shoulders and arms hurt, though the ache was dull, and he felt groggy. They must've given him something. He gathered himself and pushed himself up. Then shuddered and winced.

"Here…" Droosha moved to his side. Put an arm around his shoulders and helped him sit up. She kept her arm there, supporting him. Which Guy was grateful for. It kind of felt safe. "How are you feeling; are you okay?"

Guy sunk against her arm. "Not really." He was too sore to try and pretend otherwise.

Tears filled his mother's eyes. "Oh, Guy. I'm so sorry."

"Huh? The meteorite wasn't your fault…"

Droosha wiped at her eyes. "I know. But I made you reveal your identity. You wouldn't be here if I hadn't done that. You wouldn't be hurt."

Guy pulled himself up a little straighter. "Mom, no… I did it too."

Droosha shook her head. "Maybe. But you never would have if I hadn't got so excited, would you?"

Guy was still too sore to think up a lie. So he just shook his head. "No, probably not."

Droosha's shoulders sagged and she started to cry. "I'm so sorry. I'm your Mom; I'm not supposed to hurt you."

Guy swallowed hard. He didn't want her to blame herself for this. "You didn't hurt me Mom. I mean, you believed in me before the rest of Megadale did. Right from the moment you found out I was SheZow."

"Of course I did. What you do is amazing, you know that right?"

"What running around Megadale in a dress?" Guy started to shrug, and then shuddered. "Ow…"

Droosha drew her arm around him tighter. "No. Being a superhero. No matter what people think. Even if you had to run away from home; trying to protect us. Not that you need to do that, sweetheart." She sighed. "And you wouldn't have had to protect us if I hadn't made you tell."

"Mom, you don't need to keep saying sorry. I guess it was kind of a silly thing to do, but you didn't know all this stuff was going to happen. I forgive you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." Guy smiled at her.

"Thanks sweetheart." Droosha hugged him close, tighter again. "I promise I'll try listen to you more. Not push you into anything, okay?"

"Yeah, Mom…" Guy winced.

"Mm?"

"Hugging too tight…"

* * *

 **A/n:** Can someone please tell me what possessed me to write such a long and emotional story? At this point I am emotionally drained, I'm not even kidding. One more chapter to go...


	19. Chapter 19

"You sure this is a good idea, Sheila?" Guy rolled a shoulder and winced. He still couldn't quite get that stiff feeling out of his muscles. Basically, he still felt… well, like he'd just bench pressed two thousand tonnes of rock.

"I know but we need to see how you've affected SheZow's powers. Now that you're feeling better."

"Relatively speaking." It had been a long few days. Guy couldn't even quite remember the first few hours after stopping that meteorite. Not until waking up in the hospital, his mother at his side. They'd talked a lot and it seemed they'd worked it out. Except she kept hugging him, like that would make up for any latent responsibility on her part. He didn't have the heart to tell her being squeezed all the time still kind of hurt, especially when whatever drugs they had given him had started to wear off.

Guy drew in a breath and lifted up an arm. Even that took some effort. He was missing those drugs right now. He grimaced, then flung out his fist. "You go girl." SheZow's outfit materialised around him. Without any glitches.

"So how do you feel?" Sheila asked.

Guy swallowed. "Ow." And sat down in the chair in front of Sheila and hugged himself.

"Aw, sweetie…" said Sheila.

"I'm okay," Guy said quickly, straightening himself up. "Just kind of figured once I was SheZow I wouldn't still feel so awful. She's supposed to be strong." He shrugged, carefully. "I can't go and fight baddies feeling like this."

"Of course not," Sheila said. "I don't want you going out fighting now. I just wanted to take some readings. You'll be fine. You just need to do what those doctors told you, get some rest. I mean, they don't always know what they're talking about with superheroes, but I think this time they might be spot on."

Guy nodded. "Good. Because I don't feel like fighting anyone." Or going outside. Or watching the news. Or talking to his Dad. He stood to his feet. "She-yeah." His transformation dropped, followed by another brief bout of discomfort across his shoulders.

"Well, at least we know SheZow's still working properly. I don't know if you've been watching the news, but people seem a little confused as to whether SheZow is going to come back or not."

"I haven't…" He still didn't want to see what Megadale thought of SheZow's latest endeavours. "What do you mean?"

"I think they realised you completely used up SheZow's powers to stop that meteorite. I suppose they don't know whether that's permanent of not."

Guy groaned. Yeah, there was a reason he wasn't watching the news. He folded his arms. At least that seemed to give his sore muscles some support. "They're all happy they might have seen the last of SheZow then? Guess I'm going to disappoint them, huh."

"Actually, it sounds like they want SheZow back. It's pretty obvious Megadale wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you."

"What really?" Guy let out a short laugh. "You're telling me even Brian Smirk has something nice to say?"

"Well, I'm not so sure about Brian Smirk. They've got some charming young lady covering all of the superhero stories at the moment. The last time I saw Brian Smirk he was doing a story on the newest arrivals at the Megadale cattery."

"So, wait, they don't hate me?"

"I think they may be coming around. Guy," said Sheila. "You did a really great job, you know that right? You said Shezow was strong; well, she is. But so are you. Her powers are one thing, but they're still wielded by you. Stopping that meteorite was as much down to your stubbornness as it was SheZow's strength."

Guy smiled faintly. "Was that a complement?"

"Yes."

"I did have help. From SheZap. I mean, she didn't help much. Still made me do most of the work." He rubbed at his shoulder. "But I don't know what would have happened if she didn't."

"Well, I'm still proud of you, Guy."

"Thanks Sheila. I wish everyone felt the same way."

"Guy, I've just told you, Megadale doesn't hate you. Even the Guild. They contacted me and and it sounds like they may be reconsidering their position. But I think that one was down to Kelly. At any rate, I've made them promise not to come anywhere near your house, or your family, if they need to take up anything with SheZow. They've got plenty of opportunity to pick a fight with her when she's running around town. I don't want you taking off again because you're worried about your family."

Guy smiled faintly. "Thanks Sheila." He really couldn't have asked for a better computer. "But it's not the Guild or, okay, and I guess I don't have to worry so much about the media or Megadale anymore…"

"You mean your father?"

Guy huffed and looked at the floor. "Yeah."

"Sweetheart, I really think you should watch the news a little. There's nothing there that's going to upset you. In fact, I think you might be surprised."

* * *

Guy settled into the mound of cushions and blankets his mother had left for him in front of the television. He could hear her crashing around in the kitchen. Somehow, all the noise brought him comfort. He'd spent so long away from his family, he wanted to be as close to them as he could. Else he'd still be hiding down in the she-lair.

Even if Mom was smothering him. And even if he didn't actually want to talk to Dad.

"You better be right, Sheila." Tentatively, Guy picked up the remote and switched over to a news channel.

And it turned out she was. There was a young reporter rabbiting on about how SheZow had saved them and when would she be coming back. And telling everyone they shouldn't be harassing the family whilst they worked through whether their son could be a superhero or not. Guy winced. Hopefully that wouldn't put any ideas in his father's head.

Kelly walked into the living room, school bag slung over one shoulder. "Please tell me you haven't been sitting in front of that all day?"

"No, actually," Guy rolled his eyes. "I've been planning SheZow's triumphant return. And it looks like Megadale might actually want her back."

Kelly dumped her bag on the floor. "Yeah, I noticed." She scooted up next to him on the couch. "And so they should. They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for SheZow."

"Yeah, well, soon as I can power up without feeling like my arms are going to drop off…"

They were replaying footage from just before the meteorite had come down. It wasn't like Guy found it unsettling. He'd already dealt with the meteorite. Seeing it hurling towards Megadale didn't upset him, though perhaps it did remind him of the ache still in his arms and shoulders.

An image of Mom talking to Brian Smirk came on. "Hey, Mom got Brian Smirk arrested? Did you see that…" he began to ask Kelly. Then he trailed off and swallowed hard.

Because his father had come to stand beside Mom. Mom Guy could handle, going on as she was about how Megadale should be grateful for her son; it was stuff she'd said to him any number of times over the last few days. But he had no idea what his father was going to say.

His mother stopped speaking, and then Dad looked at the camera.

"I haven't seen this yet," said Kelly. Not that she'd had a lot of time to watch the news either - Guy suspected she'd been careful about watching it around him, because he'd been avoiding it. "Hey, has Dad been crying?"

"Shh!" Guy wasn't sure. He didn't know if he wanted to hear what his father had to say, but still he leaned forward on the couch.

 _"_ _Look, I get it Megadale. I know that SheZow made a mess of a few things. Well, a lot of things. And I'd be the first to admit finding out she's my son… made me a little uncomfortable."_

Guy groaned and slumped back into his cushions. Yeah, just as he'd thought. Dad was still all hung up about SheZow. Why had Sheila told him to watch the news?

 _"_ _But you know what?"_ Boxter continued. _"Despite having to run away from home just cause it was the only way he could get away from our screwed up legal system, and the Superhero Action Guild, who weren't that much better. Despite all the crap the media's thrown at him… and the way I treated him… I don't care what you think of a boy running around saving the world in pink. He's the one up there stopping that thing. Not us cops, not the Guild. He's a bloody hero and I'm proud of him! I just… I just hope I get the chance to tell him that. If I don't that'll be my fault."_

Dad started to cry, even as Mom drew him into a hug, pulling him away from the camera's stare and hiding his face. The camera only stayed on them for a few seconds more, before swinging its gaze up to the descending meteorite.

For a moment, all Guy could do was stare at the screen. Even as the story switched over to Brian Smirk being overrun by a half dozen kittens.

"Kind of wish they'd stop playing that." Boxter stood behind the couch, in his uniform.

Guy started. He didn't know how long he'd been there, but he must have only just come in from work.

"Aw, Dad…" said Kelly.

Boxter rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled at her sheepishly. Then he slowly turned his attention to Guy. "Look, son…"

"Did you really mean that?" Guy swallowed.

"Which bit?"

Guy rubbed at his arm. "I don't know… that you're proud of me, I guess."

Boxter sat down beside him. "Hey, why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know," Guy shrugged. "You looked kind of freaked out, maybe you were just worried about me…"

"Well, yeah, course I was worried about you. I thought…" he cleared his throat. "I thought I was going to lose you."

"Ah." Guy hung his head.

"Hey…" Boxter put an arm around Guy's shoulders. At least he didn't squeeze as hard as Mom had been. "Yeah, okay, I've been an idiot. I got scared, I thought I'd missed my chance to tell you what I really thought. And it made me realise… if that horrendously embarrassing bit of news footage didn't convince you… I am really proud of you. You did a good job. And I should've realised it sooner. I'm just glad I get to tell you that properly." Dad pulled him into a hug.

Guy's shoulders sagged and he hung onto his father for a long moment. "Thanks Dad. So you don't care about, you know, the dress?"

Boxter smiled at him faintly. "It's still pretty weird. But it does take guts, I'll give you that."

"Yeah, well, I bet it took guts to get all emotional on camera," Guy smirked.

Boxter sighed and rolled his eyes. "I am not going to live that down, am I? And thanks to the news cycle all of Megadale now knows your Dad's a great big softie. Wonderful."

"I think it's adorable," Droosha stepped into the room. She came and stood behind Boxter, ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, you would."

"So I found this in the mail…" Mom waved a letter.

Boxter stood to his feet and quickly took it from her.

"Hey!"

"Oh no, I saw what you did to the last one."

Droosha huffed and folded her arms. "Okay, yeah. It's from Mayor Stanley's solicitors again. But I decided I may as well read it first. It looks like we've caught a bit of a break. Apparently, they've realised SheZow basically saved all of Megadale, which is worth a lot more than all the damage she's caused. So they've basically squared the bill."

Guy sighed and rolled his eyes. "You mean I don't have to pay for anything? About time."

"Okay, hang on, mister," Boxter said, eyes roving over the letter. "This isn't free reign to go and break anything and everything you feel like. I'm pretty certain if you break more stuff Mayor Stanley isn't going to be too happy. And he'll charge you for it."

"Dad, how much is all of Megadale worth? Doesn't that mean they owe me?"

"Hey, you're lucky enough that the Mayor decided to do this." His father waved the letter. "Come on, we've been through this, I don't want to have to clean up your messes…"

Guy sighed and rubbed at his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. I get it." Somehow, he did. He knew now Dad wasn't mad at him. He had no problem with him saving Megadale - had called him a hero. He just didn't like cleaning up after SheZow. Maybe that was understandable.

"I may have some good news on that front," said Sheila, popping up from Guy's ring.

Boxter took a step back. "That is going to take some getting used to."

"I've been talking to Mayor Stanley's solicitors. They were pretty quick to agree to zeroing the bill. But I was also able to convince them to not charge any future damages to your family."

Droosha snorted. "Well, there's logic for you. How much do they think we could've afforded anyway? All we've really got is this house."

"SheZow, on the other hand," Sheila continued, "has quite a sizeable fanbase. If you include all the merchandise, she has quite a decent income."

"Wait," Guy sat up a little straighter. "I have an income?"

"No, dear," said Droosha with a faint smile, "SheZow has an income. And it sounds to me like that's where Mayor Stanley is going to charge any future damages to."

"Exactly," said Sheila.

Guy blinked. Then sunk back into his cushions and groaned.

"Well done," Kelly sighed, rolling her eyes. "I hope you're going to be a little more careful now. You know if SheZow can't pay for conventions I'm gonna have to deal with her disgruntled fans too."

"There you go," said Boxter, a smile creeping onto his face. "It's coming out of your pocket now. Or at least SheZow's. Congratulations, you get to learn some responsibility."

He was enjoying this way too much. Guy rolled his eyes. "Yeah, thanks Dad."

Boxter ran a hand through his hair. "Hey, I'm still proud of you, okay?"

"Yeah, I know." Guy winced and rubbed at his shoulder again.

"Aw, sweetie," Droosha sat down next to him. At least she didn't try and hug him. "You feeling okay?"

Guy forced a smile. "Getting there."

"Look, I know this is going to be tough. Megadale's going to be a bit better after what you pulled with that meteorite. But it's still going to be hard."

"Guess there's a reason superheroes are supposed to keep their identities secret," Boxter shrugged. "I mean, I'm glad we don't have to move to the moon, but you're still in uncharted territory here."

"Yeah… I'm just… I mean, I know I've got to put up with anything Megadale says about me. At least that'll be a bit better after stopping the meteor. But that's not what I'm worried about. I mean, Mayor Stanley and the Guild might've said they'd leave you guys alone. But what about villains? That's the reason I shouldn't have revealed my identity, even above everything else. What if they come here and hurt you?" Guy swallowed and looked at the floor. If they did, he'd never be able to forgive himself.

"Guy, I've been running around helping you for ages," said Kelly. "And so has Maz. We're both fine."

"Yeah, but no one knew where you lived," Guy countered.

"Hey, we'll work it out," said Boxter. "It's the same risk for me - there's always the possibility someone I've put away is going to get out. And it wouldn't be hard for them to track my family down if they put their minds to it. I've never really told you kids that, but…" He shrugged.

"If we stick together and make sure everyone knows what's going on, we should be fine," said Droosha. "But no more secrets. Some villain threatens us you let us know. Don't go trying to solve it by yourself."

"Mom, but…"

"No buts," said Boxter. "If something like that happens I don't want you having to try and deal with it all by yourself. Plus we'll just end up doing stupid things like…"

"… buying Mustangs."

Boxter glared at her. "I was going to say like living under a bridge." He sighed and his shoulders sagged. "And I'm going to have to return that in like three days."

"Don't worry, honey," Droosha smiled. "We can always borrow Guy's Shehicle."

"Mom!"

"Sounds like a plan," Boxter smirked, then winked at Guy.

Guy groaned and tried to give his parents his best glare. "Forget villains knowing where I live, I should've kept SheZow secret to stop you two picking on me."

"Parental privilege," Dad couldn't help adding.

Mom just smiled at Guy, and then pulled him into a hug. Again, it was far too tight.

* * *

 **A/n:** Okay, I'm done *collapses*. If you've read all the way through it'd be really great if you left a review. I'd love to hear what you think!


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